Of Respect and Friendship
by buddhistbabe
Summary: Life changes drastically for two friends, when one refuses to be a prize for dueling families and the other one steps in to be her protector. A HaruhiXMori story.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I want to thank everyone who read my last fic and i really hope this meets everyone's expectations. I also want to thank my Beta Monedameow who stepped up to the plate for me. This story time line is set over seven months and i have almost the whole thing written so there will be a fast chapter release time, hopefully.

Also, i do not own Ouran High School Host Club because if i did Haruhi and Mori would already be together.

Of Respect and Friendship

By Buddhistbabe

Haruhi took a deep breath, flattened her skirt and clasped her hands together in front of her. This was her attempt at trying not to feel like a fish out of water. While actually; she standing in a huge room, all around her there were men and women wearing expensive dresses and suit, eating expensive foods and discussing topics that Haruhi found irrelevant to her, she couldn't help feeling out of place. Yet she expected this in the moment she stepped foot into the room, after all she was at Kyoya's graduation party, and everything connected to him was connected to money and prestige.

She had been there for almost a half an hour now, walking around and attempting to look like she fit in. She knew none of the faces, there was no one really relatively near her own age. She was at least expecting to see Tamaki, knowing he and Kyoya were best friends, yet she had seen neither hide nor hair of her blonde friend. The Hitachiin brothers were not even invited to the party, and they had known Kyoya for longer than Haruhi had, but that didn't stop them to dress Haruhi up for the party.

Now she was wearing a black dress, with a form fitting and elegant cut, with white sash places on her hips. For once she and the twins had agreed on what she should wear. But her mind wasn't on her dress, it wasn't really even on the party itself. Her mind was plagued with thoughts on why she was there in the first place.

The twins had mentioned that they had no business ties to the Ohtori Corporation, so they were never expecting to be asked to come. But this didn't help to make clear why she was there, there were no merits in inviting her, and if Kyoya's family was anything like him they only did what they could later take benefits from.

The thought was still on her mind as she wandered around at the party, watching the faces of the people talking around her. Haruhi was wondering how much longer she had to be there before she could make a polite exit, until she saw what appeared to be two very familiar silhouettes walking through the door. She blinked and the pair was gone, but figuring she had nothing to lose she walked around in search the pair. She didn't know if she could believe her eyes, but she was very happy to see she was correct. The pair were Huni and Mori-sempai.

"Haru-chan?" asked the Blonde, looking up from a piece of rich cake and blinking with surprise. "We didn't know you were invited! Were didn't think any one from the Host Club was invited, Did we Takashi?" Bubbled the blonde.

The tall man next to him shook his head in agreement.

Haruhi smiled at her friends, relief spreading through her body just to see them.

"I didn't know you would be here either, but I am very glad to see you. I haven't see Tamaki here."

"Oh he wouldn't have been invited, this isn't a normal graduation party, this is a business party."

"A business party?" Haruhi asked is a confused voice.

"Yeah, all people here are potential business partners, and inviting them to a gathering like this is a sign that the Ohtori family is trying to make a deal with them over something. A surprisingly large amount of business is done at a party like this. All of the rich families do it through them". After finishing his explanation, Huni moved onto another type of dessert.

"You are potential business partners?" she asked the pair looking at them with wide eyes wondering what they could offer the medical company.

"Yup! Kyoya's father wants us to start training the Ohtori personal army for them."

"What?"

"Of course we won't actually do it, we are a serious dojo, not a place to train bodyguards and hit men"

Mori nodded in response with Huni.

"But Haruhi, why are you here?" asked Huni peaking up at her through his blonde bangs.

"I have been wondering that myself" she answered honestly with a hint of nervousness in her voice. The tone was picked up by the taller of her two companions, who looked at her with sympathy.

The next hour past with relative swiftness, that came with being in good company, even if one of them never stopped having something in his mouth, while the other one never opened his. Yet she felt better knowing they were there with her. Huni kept pointing important people out and fielding questions asked to her by strangers, and Mori stood next to her silently, eyes gliding across the room. She knew that they both were, in a way, doing something to protect her.

Another thing that occurred during that hour was the slow building up of a headache for Haruhi. It could have been the noise, or the mixing of over a hundred of the most expensive colognes and perfumes, but what ever it was, it was causing a headache that was almost immobilizing her. She tried her best to hide it, and show no signs of pain on her pale face but her quiet friend soon noticed.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and found the owner to be Mori.

"Haruhi, what's wrong?"

"Nothing" she laughed, which caused her headache to grow, and Mori to narrow his eyes. "Actually I have a really bad head ache; I just think I need to get some fresh air."

Her tall companion nodded, separated Huni from the dessert table and led both of them down a corridor leading away from the ball room full of people. The trio were in search of a patio or a door to the outside, but Kyoya's house proved to be bigger then Haruhi could even imagine. It felt like they were walking deeper and deeper into the belly of a beast, until they heard Haruhi's name come from behind a cracked open door.

"It was you who invited Fujioka Haruhi to the party, I think I see your intentions behind that." said an all too familiar voice.

"What do you mean, can't I invite my son's friend to his party." Countered the second voice, which was Kyoya's father.

Both of the voices laughed at that statement.

"You didn't invite any of his other friends. Tamaki was so disappointed, not that he could have made it anyways, being in France for the next year." The second voice revealed why it was so familiar, it was Ouran's Chairman, Mr. Suoh.

"I believe it's time we discuss what we talked about last year, concerning our special scholarship student. I know you want to have Kyoya marry her but I really do believe she is better suited from Tamaki."

"From what I have learned from Kyoya, It seems that she finds your son to be too foolish. I doubt she could ever be convinced to marry him."

"But marriage is an affair of the heart, and no one knows the heart better than the French. The advantage Tamaki has over your son is that he is already friends with her, and in a time could win her heart."

"I must disagree; respect is what is needed in marriage, and that something she couldn't find with your son, who lets his French heart fall in love with so many different women. It seems that the girl respects Kyoya, and he out of all my sons has never once disappointed me. He has never let me down yet. He can win her heart if I want him to."

"But you are forgetting that your son comes off cold, which never can be used to win a heart, let alone a marriage."

"We shall see"

"Would you like to place a bet on this? Who ever son wins the girls hand in marriage gets… well I have always had my eye on your spring home in Hawaii.

"I would personally like to get my hands on the extra land I know you are holding in Europe."

"Fine then it is a deal."

"Well I believe it is time to join the party once again, I want to go speak to Miss Fujioka, before the hour becomes too late and she leaves."

The sound of rustling could not break Haruhi from her trance. She was transfixed to where she was standing, staring at the door that at any moment would open, and the men would realize she had overheard everything. There was a noise in her ears which sounded like rushing water, and her legs were not responding. That's when she felt a strong hand that took hers and brought her back to her senses, Mori was pulling her away from the door.

Huni was already running ahead of the pair to check that the coast was clear. The last thing they wanted to do was run into any people of importance who would want to stop and chat. The pair wanted to sneak the stunned and hurt Haruhi away from the party as fast as they could. The hand in hers was leading her through the twisting corridors that originally lead them so deep into the mansion. Soon they found themselves once again in a sea of people, and it felt as if they were swimming against the current of the masses. The tall gentlemen made easy work swimming upstream through the people and bring Haruhi with him. In no time they were at the main doors and out into the street.

She felt Huni grab her other hand and pull her away from Kyoya's mansion at a quick pace, but her mind did not register what was really going on. She was working on to many ideas and facts at once. The last time she was like this was when Tamaki almost left for France with Eclair. Her mind was running through what she had overheard. The fathers of two of her closest friends, wanted to marry her into their families, which happened to be two of the most powerful around. That they were betting over her like she was a race horse. They were staking their sons, her friends, against each other to marry her, Haruhi, plain, commoner Haruhi. She didn't know how to feel, she was surprised, shocked, hurt but most of all angry. It was her anger that was winning in her conflict of emotions, she had always heard the expression seeing red but for the first time she was actually experiencing it.

Her two rescuers could feel the tension rising in her; they could see her face turn flush, and her eyes narrow. They exchanged glances with each other wondering what they could do to help their friend.

Then suddenly they stopped, arriving at their destination. The jolt of her lack of movement caused Haruhi to look up and she see that she was standing in the middle of a park, not to far from Ouran High. Her friends lead her to a bench and sat her down, where the anger inside her could no longer be controlled.

She bowed her head and started breathing quickly, rage building up inside of her, and angry tears pouring down her face. She felt as if the trust of her friends had been broken, but not by them, by their fathers. How would she be able to ever interact with either of them, knowing that they were really trying to win a bet for their fathers?

She didn't know what she could do; she did not have the slightest clue as to go about stopping this bet, without giving away the fact that she had overheard something she shouldn't have. She didn't know how she could get away from two of the most powerful families around; they had their hands in everything, including her education and future. As she discovered her helplessness her tears of anger slowly became tears of confusion and then finally pure sadness.

"What will I do?" she asked the pair of sat on either side of her, Huni was holding her hand and Mori's arm was draped behind her. "How can I escape those men, and their bet? There is nothing I can do, is there? Nothing I can do to get away. They don't even understand marriage, using it as a tool, and using me as a toy. They are right that marriage is about friendship and respect but you need to have both for the marriage not one or the other. And at the moment I feel neither respect nor friendship to either of their families or their sons.

She breathed deeply letting out the last bit of anger. She felt drained and lost then added weakly "But most importantly marriage is about love, and love can not be built with out either friendship or respect. I refuse to become a prize for the Ohtori and the Suoh."

The last part took the last of her will power and strength to say, and she gave into the warmth that she felt around her shoulders. She closed her eyes and leaned into the warmth falling asleep, with tear streaks still on her cheek. What she didn't realize was that warmth that she was falling into was actually Mori's chest, and she had no memories of ever being carried home in his arms.

Huni watched his cousin softly carrying their distressed and sleeping friend. While he was never known for his size or for his keen observation skills, one thing he did know was his cousin, and he saw the look of pain in his eyes. While Mori wasn't looking down at Haruhi, instead looking out in front of them, the blonde knew his cousin's mind was engaged in trying to think of a plan to help the girl.

He too was running ideas through his head that could help remedy the situation; he had no come up with one by the time they reached Haruhi's home. Her father was there waiting, it was his night off work and he had been waiting for Haruhi to be home half an hour ago. He was about to call Kyoya when he saw his daughter being carried into his apartment.

Huni sat and explained the situation to Haruhi's father, while Mori took the sleeping girl to her room. The party, the overhearing of the bet, and his daughter's response, Haruhi's father absorbed it all in a very similar way as Haruhi, and almost with as many tears too.

Mori appeared back in the living room after setting Haruhi out on her bed and Mr. Fujioka disappeared to change his daughter out of her dress and into something all more comfortable for her to be sleeping in.

"I would do anything to help" Huni said determinedly to his taller counterpart.

"So would I Mitsukuni, so would I" Mori said in a sad voice.

That was when an idea stuck Huni and once Haruhi's father returned, he wanted Mr. Fujioka's opinion.

"I won't let either of them play like this with my daughter, what is your plan?"

The three spent the next hour in a deep discussion before the two cousins left for a few hours of sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed my first chapter. This chapter was beta-ed by ****Monedameow. So hats off to her. The rest of my chapters are pretty much written so i am planning to have the next chapter up by Monday if not tomorrow. Also I do not own Ouran High School Host Club.**

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Of Respect and Friendship

Chapter 2

The next morning Haruhi woke up feeling good and well rested, expect that her face was heavy in salt from her tears the night before. 'Why was I crying?' she thought to herself, before all of the events of the night before came rushing back to her. She must have been brought home by Huni and Mori-senpei; she made a mental note to apologize to them later.

Haruhi rolled over to look at the clock and felt her jaw drop when she saw how late it was, 11am. She never slept in that late, especially on a Sunday when there were so many things that needed to be done. She climbed out of bed and noted that she wasn't in her normal pajamas. She was wearing one the white cotton nightgowns her father always bought for her to wear to sleep, despite how impractical they were. Cursing to herself she shuffled out of her room. On her way to the bathroom she heard noises coming from the kitchen.

'_It's too early for dad to be awake_,' she thought to herself _'plus he wouldn't be cooking, not after the last night he almost caught the stove on fire_' Curiosity got the best of Haruhi and she walked into the kitchen and was very shocked at the sight she saw. What her eyes met were her father and Huni sitting at the table together pouring over magazines full of dresses and pointing things out to each other while Mori stood at the stove cooking what appeared to be lunch.

"Haru-chan you're awake!!" bubbled the blonde when he saw her standing dumbfounded in the doorway.

"What is going on? Huni-senpei, Mori-senpei why are you both here?"

"Haruhi! Is that a way to behave to these two handsome gentlemen who took care of you so diligently last night? exclaimed the cross-dresser. "Besides they are here because we have a plan to save you from those rotten Suoh and Ohtori men, how dare they treat my child as if she was a pawn."

"Dad, you know what's going on?" Haruhi asked slightly shocked, she had no intention of letting her father know and causing him to worry.

"Why of course! I know everything that is happening in my darling daughters life. When my daughter is brought home to me after crying herself to sleep, I believe I should be entitled to know what is going on. Now anyways, these handsome young men are here to help you, so if you would stop being rude and go make yourself decent we can get on with it."

That was when Haruhi realized that she was still in her nightgown, standing in a kitchen with her father and two of her friends. She blushed furiously, mumbled and exited the room grumpily. No one else noticed that the tall quiet man at the stove had not looked away from the young woman at the door, and when he did look away, his cheeks were flushed too.

Fifteen minutes later Haruhi returned to the kitchen clean, brushed and dressed. She sat down at the empty place between her father and Mori. Soon her plate was loaded with food and she dug in.

"Mori-sempai, did you cook this?" she asked her eyes growing wide with delight.

He nodded. "Wow, this is delicious." She smiled at him. "I didn't know you knew how to cook."

He smiled at her softly and shrugged, feeling slightly embarrassed at the extra attention.

Neither noticed two pairs of eyes watching and analyzing the interaction between them. The meal passed in relative silence, for everyone had something on their minds, and Haruhi couldn't help but wonder what this plan mentioned before was. Almost as if her father could read her mind he started.

"Haruhi, now about this plan, last night the three of us were up very late discussing the possibilities of what could be done to prevent you from being used by your friend's fathers. But it has been agreed by the three of us that you should do anything to avoid that situation, don't you think so too?"

Haruhi nodded eager to her what was thought up.

"Haru-chan," continued Huni. "We think you should marry Takashi."

All Haruhi could do was blink, unsure if she heard correctly. After a moment when she realized they were waiting for her opinion all she could ask was "What?"

"Well, my darling daughter, the only way to avoid a marriage is with a marriage. At first we were thinking you would only have to enter into an engagement but knowing the Ohtori family they would think of a way to break it. Then we were thinking of a restraining order but there are no legal actions we can take against them because they are both so powerful that they have their hands in the government. So the only thing that seems logical is for you to get married. What better way to escape a marriage then with another one" Her father side lightheartedly.

"I would marry you Haruhi but I can not because of the dojo, the person I'll marry will be for the good of the Haninozuka name. We thought about one of the twins because you are so close to them but you would have to pick one, and that would destroy the other. But really it was so simple, because Takashi is perfect."

Haruhi looked at Mori sitting next to her, his eyes were on her, watching her action to what she had just been told. He had not said anything yet.

Her father continued where Huni left off. "Morinozuka is a powerful name in its own respect, and being tied to it will benefit you and your education, but most importantly your safety. No one is foolish enough to cross a Morinozuka man."

All she could do was sit there in silence; ever pair of eyes was watching her, her reaction, and waiting for her to say something.

"Haruhi" he father signed, sound older then he really was "I know you are only a senior in High school and the decision is yours but I really believe this will be safest route to take. You won't see Kyoya or Tamaki at school anymore, so the threat there is gone but that doesn't mean they won't try to get you in other ways. I only want what's safest for you, and this is it"

Silence hung as Haruhi stared at her plate, thinking of what to do. Knowing last night they had all sat and talked about this. _'What about Mori-sempai? How does he feel about ths? They are speaking about him, like he was cattle, something to be given away or trade. The same way I was being spoken of last night.' _

"Haruhi" said the tall man next to her, finally breaking his silent state "can we go for a walk? I think we should talk."

"Okay, sempai that's a good idea."

The pair stood and walked out of the kitchen and out of the apartment, the two left back at the table exchanged worried glances, hoping the stoic young man could convince her.

Silence hung over them as they walked down the street, neither knowing what exactly to say to the other. It was Haruhi who broke the calm.

"I am sorry, sempai, about how they were speaking about you in there like you were not sitting with us. They were talking about you like you were a piece of furniture, and I am sorry."

She stopped and turned to him looking into he deep eyes. "I am very sorry"

"Haruhi, I agree with them, I think this is the only way to keep you safe." said her companion in his deep voice. "I know last night you said marriage is about friendship and respect. You and Mitsukuni are my best friends and I respect you very much. I want to help to protect you, Haruhi. I know this may be too much for you to handle right now. But I will take very good care of you. College will be easily paid for. You won't have to worry about needing anything. You will have everything. We can get an apartment, and you won't be forced to move into the family home. My mother would love to meet you. I have told her about you in the past. I spoke with my family about this last night and they agreed with me. All they needed was to get Mitsukuni's family's blessing. Haruhi I can not sit by and see you get hurt by these two men who claim to be your friends. I swear" He said reaching out to her hand "I will protect you."

She looked down at the large hand holding hers. Thoughts bombarded her rational mind. Things like, _'why are you considering this you are still in high school'_ and '_what about marrying for love'_. While she heard all of those thoughts a second voice was saying, '_he is your friend and wants to help you'_ and _'He is the best choice for you'_.

The last one caused her to stop, he really was the best choice out of all of her friends, he never made her feel different because she was a commoner. He thought through his actions unlike almost everyone else at the host club, and he had a human caring quality that had shown itself many times in the past. Haruhi soon found herself agreeing with her father.

"Sempai, I accept your offer. You are right we have friendship and respect and maybe that can grow into love. I am sorry that by marrying me you will never get to marry your true love, but I will do the best I can as your wife." She smiled up at him.

Mori looked down at her wishing he could say more but nothing came in mind. Instead he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box, and opened it, inside was the most beautiful ring Haruhi had ever see.

He took it out of the box and slid in onto her ring finger while saying "It was my grandmother's engagement ring and it is yours now. And please from now on, just call me Takashi."

She stood looking at the ring and feeling the weight on her hand. She knew she was taking on a large task. Both of them were. Marriage at a young age was always hard, but both of them had grown up faster then everyone else they knew and if anyone could make it Haruhi knew it would be them.

"It is beautiful, thank you so much sem-, I mean Takashi."

A soft and happy smile spread over Mori's face as she looked down at the ring on her finger not knowing that he was already in love with her.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I just want to thank everyone who has commented and added this story to their alerts. It really cool to see that some of my favorite authors are reading my story. Also thanks to my beta Monedameow. I don't know if i mentioned this yet but this story is taking place over 7 months, and its really going to be the progression of the pair understanding that they love each other. So i hope you like this chapter, i enjoyed writing this chapter and chapter 4 will hopefully be up before the end of the week. Also i do not own Ouran High School Host Club.**

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Of Respect and Friendship

Chapter 3

by Buddhistbabe

A month after Haruhi became engaged she found herself standing in a white Kimono waiting to get married. She was in a large bedroom at the Morinozuka family home waiting to be lead out to the household's largest private garden where the marriage was going to be taking place. Very few people were invited in the wedding, Haruhi's father, Mori's mother, father, and brother and Huni's mother, father, and brother. The twins, who had been recently informed of the plan, were also in attendance.

Haruhi frowned when she recalled trying to explain the situation to the doppelgangers, it was one of the most difficult tasks she had encountered over the past month. As expected, they both opposed the plan, offering themselves to her as future husbands, claiming they would be more fun then the silent Mori. It took them quite some time before they realized that if one of them was married to Haruhi it would weaken their brotherly bonds. Once it was explained to them that way. Hikaru and Kaoru finally agreed that she had no other option, but then they refused to be left out of the planning.

They spent the last 3 weeks controlling Haruhi's life. They had their hands in every aspect of the wedding, from the decorations to the food, to the type of ceremony. But by far their favorite part of the planning was their gift they gave Haruhi.

They spent the last 3 weeks controlling Haruhi's life. They had their hands in every aspect of the wedding, from the decorations to the food, to the type of ceremony. But by far their favorite part of the planning was their gift they gave Haruhi.

Their gift to her was the white Kimono she was standing in. It was one of their mother's first designs. She refused the gift in the first place, claiming that it was too much, but they wouldn't listen and couldn't pass up the chance to dress up their friend. The traditional outfit was made from the softest of silks with tiny cherry blossoms patterns embroidered by hand onto it with tiny crystal beads. Her hair, while still short, had been washed, conditioned, styled and pined back with little silver berets decorated with pearls. Even with everything that had been done to it, it still looked the same to her. After the twins applied her makeup, which she trying to convince them not to, they left her room and gave her some rest.

Now she stood at the large open window, smelling the summer breeze and looking out at the beautiful July sky. Her childhood dream wedding was less decorated and lavish then her real one, but in her dream she was also marrying for love. She was so distracted by her thoughts that she never heard the door open and a voice calling her name; she felt a tug on her sleeve and turned to see Huni-senpei standing in the room with her, wearing a concerned expression, on his normally cheerful face.

"What is wrong Haru-chan? You should be happy you are getting married. Takashi is a really good man, and he will always care and protect you" he said taking her hand in a comforting manner, thinking that she was having second thoughts.

"I know, senpei, I am very lucky to be marrying him. It is him I am worried about though not me. Doesn't he want to marry for love? I feel like he is settling for me. I know he got many offers from girls in high school hoping for his affection, and I am sure girls are still chasing after him, but I don't think he should be sacrificing his happiness to protect me."

Haruhi said all of this in a deflated manner, but after she said it she relished in how good it felt to get that thought off her chest. She had been thinking about it ever since she agreed to get married.

The young man standing in front of her gave her a sad soft smile and shook his head.

"I don't think you understand Haruhi. Takashi was never going to get to marry for love; he came to that understanding a while ago. Love is not something that the rich get to experience, it is something that only the lucky few get to have. I think its one of the reasons he never let anyone get really close to him. He knew that his marriage would be one for the advantage of either his family or mine. His bride would have been chosen from our business associate's daughters, he might have never met her before the wedding. He accepted and understood all of this and was willing to give up any chance of happiness if it was asked of him. So you see the truth is Takashi is very happy about marrying you."

A wide eyed bride-to-be, sat listening to what her friend had to say, and she was truly shocked. She knew that marriages to the rich were business deals, but she never really considered how that would affect all of her friends. It never occurred to her that the lover boys that belonged to the Host Club might never really get a chance to experience love. The manner that Huni spoke in chilled Haruhi, for her blonde friend would end up in an arranged marriage someday also.

"Haruhi, by marrying Takashi, you are giving him something he never had before, hope. Hope for a happy future with a woman he respects, and cares for. Takashi believes that he has to follow orders and that his personal wants never come first. But for once he is getting something he wants. He wants to marry you Haru-chan. He will care for you and respect you. Personally I believe he already loves you too. I just think he hasn't realized it yet. He knows he cares for you, he cares for you more then he has for anyone outside his family. There have been times, Haruhi, when I am convinced that when he looks at you and is with you, he is happier then he has been in a very long time."

Haruhi felt her face first shift from shock, at the concept that Takashi, as she would now have to call him, already loved her. The shock then gave way to doubt. That must have shown on her face because her blonde friend then added "Fine you don't have to believe me but I think you will see it over time. So please don't be depressed, you are marrying a man who truly cares for you."

He smiled up at her through his blonde bangs. "Now come on everyone is waiting for you." He said tugging on her hand, leading her from the room with a bounce in his step.

'_Could he be right? Does Takashi really love me?_' That concept whirled through her mind. Nerves began to twist inside Haruhi's stomach as they reached the garden doors, which stood open letting the sun light filter in. She swallowed, as she met her father, who was waiting for her, at the door. While Huni hurried off to stand with his family.

Haruhi entered with her father, who dressed as a man for the occasion, slowly walking forward to where Takashi stood with his family. His tall form was draped in a black kimono, making him look taller then ever. She took her place standing next to her husband-to-be. She looked over at him to see how he was reacting to the wedding. He was staring ahead listening to the words spoken for the couple, with the same impassive face as normal. _'How can Huni say he is happy to be marrying me?_'

As if he felt her eyes on him, he glanced down, and found her watching him. His first thought was that maybe she wanted to stop the ceremony, but he then realized she was looking for his reassurance. He smiled a soft, yet joyous smile at the small woman next to him. He looked truly happy to be standing there

'_Maybe Huni was right after all. Maybe really does want to be married to me._' Haruhi thought as she returned his smile with a warm and happy smile of her own.

After the ceremony was done, the party went into one of the small banquet halls in the Morinozuka household and had the reception. There were tons of different foods, including fatty tuna, and a huge lovely white wedding cake as a gift from Huni-senpei. After a few hours later when dusk started to settle in, the newly wedded couple boarded the Morinozuka private jet and was whisked off to their Honeymoon suite in Hawaii.

By the time they reached their final destination both bride and groom were exhausted from the day's activities. Mori offered Haruhi the bathroom first while he went out into the living room to do some night time meditation before getting ready for sleep himself. After half an hour of sitting in silence he decided it was time to rest, he expected Haruhi to already be asleep when he walked into the bedroom. But instead he found her sitting on the edge of their massive bed looking out the big windows at the night sky. She was wearing the same white cotton nightdress that she had worn the morning the engagement was decided.

She looked up startled when she heard the click of the shutting door, as the noise pulled her from her thoughts.

"I am sorry" he said softly sitting next to her on the bed, "I thought you were already asleep"

She shook her head, and Takashi noticed she was shaking.

"Haruhi, what is wrong?" he asked worriedly. He was wondering if it was something he had done or maybe she was just upset up at having to get married so young, or maybe she was already regretting getting married. What he didn't expect was what she said.

"I am scared Takashi. I don't know what you expect from me. I don't know anything about this kind of thing" she admitted sheepishly.

He sat, looking at her slightly confused for a moment, until it dawned on him that she meant what was expected of her on her wedding night.

"Haruhi" he started "I am scared too. I've never done this before either."

She looked up at with huge eyes, she never thought that the ever claim Mori would be scared and nervous like her. It was comforting to think that behind that impassive exterior that maybe he was shaking as bed as she was.

"We don't have to do anything tonight, if you don't want to. Haruhi, no one said we had to do anything we aren't ready for. This is new for the both of us, so we can take every thing as slowly as we want."

"Thank you" She said the relief evident in her voice as she leaning into Mori shoulder.

"But we still need to sleep; tomorrow is going to be a busy day. We should get up early and enjoy the sunrise and take a tour of the island, don't you think?"

She nodded, as he stood up to go into the bathroom to get ready for bed, fifteen minutes later when he came out he was once again surprised to see Haruhi waiting for him. Once he crawled into the enormous bed, she shyly slid closer to him, he lifted his arm so she could set her head on his chest and he wrapped his arm around her exposed shoulder.

"Is this okay?" she asked softly.

"Yes it is fine" he said to reassure her.

He heard her giggle, and looked down at her as if asking what was so funny.

"Your voice sounds so deep when it echoes through your chest. I didn't think your voice could get any deeper." She said with a little smile on her lips.

He grunted one of his typical agreements to only receive more giggles from the small woman against his chest. He was happy to have her smiling. He was also very thankful that this was nothing like what he envisioned their first night together to be like. His fear was that it would have been a lot more hectic. Older members of his family told him that brides in arranged marriages normally spend most of the first night crying. This worried him; he didn't want Haruhi to cry herself to sleep because of having to marry him.

He looked down at the young woman laying against him, now sleeping. Personally he felt that this was a good first step into marriage, his bride wasn't crying, actually on closer inspection she was smiling. Taking this moment where he knew he wouldn't be caught he observed her sleep form. She fit well against him, hands curled against his chest. He could feel her warm breath against his bare chest, and remembered when he carried her through the Ohtori's tropical garden. Her hair tickled his collar bone, and he drifted off to sleep with a slight smile on his face, to match the one his new wife had on.


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

Of Respect and Friendship

Chapter Four

Haruhi wiped her forehead and looked up at the bright August sun. She couldn't believe how fast time was flying by. She had already been married for a month now. The honeymoon lasted one very relaxing week in which she and Takashi spent most of their time traveling around between the islands, relaxing and getting to know more about eachother.

Haruhi felt it ended all too quickly because before she knew it, she and Takashi were moving into their new apartment located about halfway between Mori's College and the Ouran campus. They then spent the next week painting and setting up their new home and before either of them knew it they were starting classes again. Haruhi was just finishing her first day back.

She was thankful that club activities didn't start until the next week of school because at the moment all she wanted to do was go home and relax before starting dinner. But just as Haruhi was thinking about how nice taking a napping on their new couch would be, a long black limo pulled up next to her, and an all too familiar voiced beckoned to her.

"Hello Haruhi, beautiful day, isn't it?" said the cool and collected voice of her glasses wearing 'friend'.

"Hello, Kyoya-senpai" Haruhi said respectfully trying to keep a level voice. The thought '_What is he doing here?_' kept repeating in her mind. She was starting to feel nervous knowing that the Heir of the Ohtori family normally would never stop at getting what he wanted. She didn't thing he was above abduction.

"Get in Haruhi, why don't I give you a ride."

"I really shouldn't"

"Haruhi, I am sure that it would be okay with Ranka if you were a little late. Or wait, now that your married I am sure Mori-senpei would be fine with it also."

That sentence caused her to stop dead in her tracks. The secret of their marriage was out, and with the secret went another layer of protection. She saw no other alternative and turn to face him slowly '_how did he know?_'

But in the back of her mind this wasn't so unexpected. If anyone was to find out she thought it would have been Kyoya. He had kept tabs on all of them when they were in school together, what would the difference of being out of school be.

"I can tell that you didn't think I knew about you're new husband. I was shocked, but I am sure Tamaki will be surprised too when he finds out. Well maybe I should call up Tamaki and invite him to join us. I am sure he would fly all the way back from France to see you again. You are after all his precious daughter, but I really do wonder what he will do when he finds out you are married?"

Haruhi frowned at the mention on Tamaki's name. That was something she couldn't deal with at the moment. She knew that the second he found out that she was married he would board the first plan he could and fly back to Japan to see her. That confrontation was something she wanted to avoid at all costs. So she nodded to Kyoya, silently admitted defeat and got into the limo, if anyone was going to play dirty it was him.

"Thank you for the ride home Kyoya-senpei" she said, deciding that if she was going to get through this talk with him, she might as well be polite and try to start it off on the right foot.

"Oh we aren't going to your home. We are going to see my father."

* * *

The ride there was silent. Haruhi wished she could somehow reach Takashi but she knew it was impossible. She tried not to make eye contact with the young man sitting across from her so she focused on the happy world moving outside the car window. She wished at that moment she could be one of those people they were driving by, people who never heard of the Host Club. 

When they finally arrived at Kyoya's father's office building it proved to be the tallest building Haruhi had ever seen. She and Kyoya were led by two men in black suit to a large silver elevator and taken up to the top floor. She glanced at Kyoya before they got off at the penthouse level, he quickly blinked and walked past her as if she wasn't there but she could have swore that she heard him whisper to her.

"Follow my lead."

She stared after him for a moment, and then rushed to catch up and walk next to him. Together they entered one of the largest rooms she had ever seen. It wasn't that it was really the largest, because she knew that there were room in the Morinozuka family house that were larger. Yet what made this room appear so large was that the walls were all windows, and gave the illusion that there were no walls and that it was just floor and sky. Haruhi almost felt that if she walked up to one and put out a hand that there would be nothing there, but at the moment she was too scared to even step forward out of the door way. Even though Kyoya's father had just asked to her to come sit across from him. She couldn't decided if the fear she was feeling was from the wall-less appearance of the room or the conversation that was about to happen in the room.

She took a deep breath and nervously walked forward to sat in the seat offered to her the next to her dark haired friend and across from his father.

"Hello Fujioka Haruhi, well I guess its Morinozuka Haruhi now, is it not?" The elder man greeted her in an even tone.

Haruhi felt herself swallow hard and nodded.

"Well congratulations" said the man across from her, "marriage is a big step, it is a life altering decision. One that is especially difficult for someone as young as you to make on your own."

This was not what Haruhi was expecting to hear, she glanced quickly at Kyoya to see his reaction but his face was schooled to an expert degree.

"Well," Haruhi started. "We all have decisions to make," Haruhi decided to leave her answer open ended.

"Yes, yes indeed we all do, but I have noticed that decisions, life altering decisions like marriage, are not always a good decision, when made by the young. Especially because young people tend to be less rational and they don't think about the other interests at stake."

"Other interests sir?" she asked in what she hope sounded like a clueless voice.

"Oh Mrs. Morinozuka, there is no need to play dumb. I am aware that you know of that little bet that Mr. Souh and I have made. And I am here to offer you a little piece of the pie."

Haruhi felt shocked to discover that he knew that she knew about the bet. It must have shown on her face too because she heard him chuckle.

"Of course I know. I know everything that happens in my house, thanks to a system of cameras covering my whole estate. I saw on video that you and the cousins Morinozuka and Haninozuka were at my library door at the time when the bet was made. I also know that a month later you are married to a man two years older then you. Who happens to be a member of the Haninozuka dojo, where they are known for the excellent marital arts, and your new husband happens to be a national champion in Kendo."

He paused, leaning closer to Haruhi to continue.

"It is not hard to figure out that you did not marry him for love. You are married him for protection, protection from me. That seems a little hypocritical Mrs. Morinozuka, escaping a marriage with another marriage, refusing to be used but by doing so using your own friend."

He paused and shook his head, watching Haruhi reaction to his last statement, hoping to get a reaction out of her, but he got none.

"But now I am offering you a different kind of protection." continued Mr. Ohtori. "If you divorce Morinozuka and marry my youngest son Kyoya you will have financial protection, and entrance to the best law schools and law firms in the entire world because you will carry my family's name. While it is true that Morinozuka is a wealthy family tied to many different industries it still does not have the power that the Ohtori name does."

Haruhi sat there, looking back at the man in front of her, at a complete loss of what to say. For a girl who someday hoped to be a lawyer, she was frozen at the moment. She was searching, for something, anything to say in her defense, while it was true that she wasn't marrying for love, she couldn't very well say that. It would make her point moot. She also wanted to defend herself that she wasn't using her friend, but she also knew that what ever she said would be twisted and used against her.

Then she heard the young man next to her clear his throat, which caused her to jump. She had completely forgotten that Kyoya was sitting next to her.

"Father, I believe you have some of your facts wrong" said the shadow king pulling a folder out from under his arm. One Haruhi had not noticed it there before.

"Is that so my son? Please enlighten me to my mistake." said the older gentlemen smiling a smile that carried the air of a threat.

"With all due respect father, I have been studying all of the members of the host club for the last three years. I have files and notes and statistical facts on all of them. I know every relationship they have had and I know every person who they wanted to have a relationship with and everyone who wanted to have a relationship with them."

At this Haruhi started at Kyoya. Had he really been taking those kinds of notes on all of them? Herself included? This scared Haruhi, it scared her more than she would have thought. He was always taking note on them that she knew but to that extent of those notes, she never would have guessed.

He passed three sheets across the table to his father and then continued.

"The first sheet you see it Morinozuka's interest in the women around him, you as you can see the Haruhi margin is exponentially larger then any of the girls that he ever hosted."

Haruhi blinked _'of course my ratio is higher'_ she thought to herself _'he could never really tolerate any of the girls who came to the host club' _

"The second sheet there is Haruhi's interest sheets. Her peaceful interactions ratio with Morinozuka is off the charts compared to the other five handsome men she interacted with."

Another though entered in Haruhi mind _'that's because he is the only one who gave me any peace. Everyone else was disrupting me'. _

Mr. Ohtori interrupted at this moment. "Kyoya why are you not the top?"

"Well father," said that young man with a little cough "my interactions with Haruhi, normally amounted in the raising the amount of Haruhi's debt to she owed to the club, unnecessarily.

Haruhi smiled at that comment '_so he was adding unnecessarily to my debt_'

"What is this third sheet Kyoya? This is a list of dates"

"Yes, that is exactly what it is father. It is a list of all the times that Morinozuka and Miss Fujioka spent together after he graduated. As you can see it is quite a long list."

At this Haruhi looked at Kyoya, she had not spent any time alone with Takashi after his graduation. She had seen him quite a bit but the rest of the club was always there. _'Is he lying to his father for me?' _

"As you can see father, it is my belief, according to my extensive research, that Haruhi and Mori were nursing feelings for each other. Then when they over heared your bet with Mr. Souh it actually pushed them closer." He paused to push up his glasses.

"But father you should not see this as a lost, because as Haruhi married for love to someone else, neither you nor Mr. Souh could have won this bet. Really, if either of you would have won it would destroy the relations between both of our companies. Plus father, even though I consider Haruhi a friend, I don't believe she is worth the trouble that would come with winning or losing this bet.

The older Ohtori leaned back in his chair, the light from the window reflecting in his glasses, causing it to seem as if he had no eyes at all.

"It seems Kyoya, that if you are correct in your calculations I would be making an error to continue with this bet. You are very right though, a commoner is no reason to destroy a very prosperous business deal."

He turned his eyeless sights upon Haruhi. "But I must warn you Morinozuka Haruhi, that Souh is a man with a temper, while at one moment he spouts sonnets and quips of romance; he has a quick sharp French temper. He, at the moment, doesn't know that you have already married, but it won't take long until he is knocking on your door. He might try different measures to reach his goal. So take this as a friendly warning. You are both dismissed."

With that Kyoya stood and Haruhi followed his lead. They did not speak again until they were both sitting in the limo.

"Kyoya-senpei, you lied to your father."

"No I didn't." Countered her friend.

"Yes you did, I did not spend all the time with Takashi, at least not alone, I spent that time with him and the rest of the club.

"I know but I never said you were alone with him, both of you assumed that was what I meant."

"Well then, I guess you are right and you didn't lie to him."

"No Haruhi, I didn't lie to him about your time with Takashi but I did lie about something else. I told him you weren't worth losing the Souh business over, and that was what I lied about. You are very special Haruhi, even if you don't see it. You caused all of us in the host club to change, and to change for the better, just because you saw all of us as unique and good individuals. You taught us all something, something that no one else could have shown us. Kaoru and Hikaru both learned that there was more to life than each other; Tamaki learned how to have a female friend. With Huni-senpei, you treated him as a person and not a doll or something cute to be dotted on, and with me, you showed me that I have the ability to be a good person, occasionally, even when there are no merits involved."

Haruhi looked her friend in the face, trying to search his eyes for the truth.

"Kyoya, are there merits now?"

He smirked at her and raised his eyebrows at hearing her address him with just his first name. "Honestly? Yes"

"What are you hoping to gain from me?" the young woman asked angered that her friend was once again trying to use her for merits.

"Your trust, and your friendship, and maybe you legal abilities after you get out of law school" he added on jokingly.

"Kyoya, you have always had my trust" she said, there was honestly in her voice that not even he could bend to suit his purposes.

As if the topic was too much for him he quickly changed the subject. "I think it is for that best that you married Mori-senpei. Out of all of us, I believe he needs the most help."

"What do you mean, I have been married to him for the past month and nothing seems wrong with him. I think I would have noticed by now."

"He never really shows anything though, does he? And that is where the problem lies. His whole life he was taught to be silent and trained to be completely emotionless. In his family showing emotion is a weakness and he was trained not to show them since he was a child. There are things in his past that he has never talked about and most likely never will, but it good from him to have someone there just incase he does. His background folder is as thick as yours Haruhi. What he needs is someone to show him how to feel, but Haruhi, at the moment we are outside your house. And I am sure that your husband is worried about where you have been."

The next thing Haruhi knew was that her door was being opened by Kyoya's driver; she mindlessly climbed out and walked to her apartment complex door. She rode the elevator to her floor while her mind was on auto pilot, thinking about what Kyoya had told her. She was so distracted that when she walked into her apartment she walked right past the man on her mind.

* * *

He was sitting at the table a cup of tea in front of him, and his eyes closed, breathing deeply. He heard her enter the apartment and walk past him, he slowly opened his eyes. 

"Haruhi" he said softly.

She turned quickly surprised to see him sitting behind her. "Takashi? Oh you scared me" she started, her voice dying out when she saw the emotionless look on his face.

"You need to check in with me." His deep voice said in almost a deadpan tone.

"What?" she asked rather surprised at where this topic came from.

He looked at her, his eyes staring deep into hers, as if he was trying to send his thoughts into her head without saying them.

"You can not be gone out this late without letting me know where you are. You are two hours late, and I know there are no clubs this week."

"Takashi please," she started desperately, realizing that he must have been worried about her. "I can explain why I am so late."

He looked at her with a calm gaze waiting for her to continue.

"Kyoya picked me up from school today."

One of Mori's eyebrows rose slightly at this. 'He really doesn't show much emotion' Haruhi thought to herself.

"He took me to meet his father."

Haruhi looked at his passive exterior with no idea what was really happening inside his body, his chest at that moment decided to freeze. His heart hurt in a way that he didn't know that could be possible.

"But we should be thankful to him, because he convinced his father to give up the pursuit of me. He was trying to bribe me with some of the top law schools to get me to divorce you" she said with a hint of disgust in her voice.

Takashi felt like smiling at that. He knew that Haruhi wanted to get into law school on her own abilities not because of the names of her wealthy friends.

Haruhi sighed; looking more tired than Takashi had ever seen her before, sitting down across from him.

"Kyoya convinced him that I am not worth destroying a very promising business deal over. So luckily for us we are in the clear from the Ohtori's. "

They sat in silence for a moment, as Haruhi closed her eyes, thinking of the nap she wanted to take over two hours ago. She was about to get up and leave when the silence between when was uncharacteristically broken by Takashi.

"He is wrong."

Haruhi gave him a puzzled look, not understanding what he meant. Her mind had drifted to many other thoughts.

"You are worth it; you are worth getting upset over losing, and losing every business deal over." He took a long sip of the tea in front of him before continuing.

"None the less, Haruhi, I would prefer if you checked in with me before you were out late. Even better, how about I walk you home from school from now on?"

"What?" Haruhi said angrily, maybe it was because she was tired, or maybe it was because she felt like she had been controlled and lead around enough for one day. What ever the reason was she felt her normally endless temper, get shorter and shorter every moment.

"I never checked in with my own father, I refused to let my own father walk me home from school. Takashi I have always been able to take care of myself, I do not need to be treated like a child, especially now that I am a married woman."

"Haruhi, I have no intention of treating you like a child. But just because one of the two powerful families that were after you is gone, does not mean that we should lower our defenses. If you are out late, and I have no idea where you are, I will assume the worst has happened to you."

He paused and looked down into his cup

"Haruhi, I was really worried about you."

The young women looked at the man sitting across from her, who was avoiding her eye by staring at his teacup, almost ashamed that he had admitted a weakness.

"I am sorry Takashi; I guess I never thought about that." she admitted sheepishly. The truth was she hadn't thought about how her being gone would affect him. She made a mental note of working on thinking more about his feelings before continuing on. "I am so used to coming home to an empty home at all hours that I guess it never crossed my mind that you were here and worried about me."

"Haruhi, you are mine to care for and protect. I promise that you will never come home to an empty house again." He said quietly. His face had gone from expressionless to a promising smile.

Haruhi reached out across the table to take his hand. Her tiny hand fit rather nicely in his larger ones, she squeezed his hand gently. She stood, and announced that she was going to take a nap, but instead of going and laying on the couch or in their bed she first walked over and gave her husband a kiss on the cheek. Then she exited quietly smiling back at him, making a mental note that when her husband was upset about something, he hid all of his emotions, trying to be a blank slate. She smiled at the progress they were already making.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: PHEW, wow you guys are really supporting this story full force. I am almost on 40 different alert lists!!! I am posting as fast as I can, my beta Monedameow, who is stellar fantastic, must be getting sick of how many times i email her in a week. I have hit some snags on the way. Your reviews are causing me to look into and rewrite parts of my story that were...lacking? We are now past the half way mark on the story! Once again thank you all for you comments nothing cheers me up like waking up to a mailbox full of comments. You folks make me want to keep writing! Once again, Ouran High School Host Club isn't mine, i just play with it.**

* * *

**Of Respect and Friendship**

**Chapter 5 **

From that day on, they agreed to meet at the same park that she, Huni and Mori went the night she had learned about the bet, everyday after school. They choose the park so Haruhi's fellow students wouldn't wonder why someone who had graduated two years ago was picking her up. Even though it was Haruhi's last year at Ouran she still had not informed her class that "he" was really a woman, and because everyone thought that she was boy she had not yet announced her marriage to her class.

She didn't care if the students knew she was a girl, it was never really a concern for her. The only thing that prevented her from saying anything was her fear of how her classmates would react to her lie. She almost regretted not telling them the truth her first year of School. Now she known all of these people for two years and if they found out she was lying to them the entire time she had no idea if the would be okay with that or if she would be rejected.

Haruhi found herself thinking about this and how to tell her classmates, more and more often. And these thoughts were interrupted during her last class on Monday by an invitation to see the chairman. It had been a week since she had seen Kyoya, and she had not forgotten his warning about Mr. Souh. Yet the invitation to see the chairman didn't scare her.

She was actually expecting it. She had been meeting with the chairman since she entered Ouran High School, always at the start and end of every semester. She had not seen him yet this semester. When they did meet their meetings were never serious. He always flitted about her asking how she was doing and that making her promise to call him uncle, something which she never did.

She walked calmly to his office, looking out the tall windows as she walked down the hall, trying to act like this time was no different then the others. Even as she tried to act normal, she was tucking her wedding ring, which was on a chain around her neck, deeper into the collar of her uniform.

She knocked softly on the huge set of white double doors and heard a small voice cry enter.

"Haruhi come sit down" said the voice of Tamaki's father.

She crossed the threshold and stepped into a huge room that was the opposite of Mr. Othori's large office. Where Mr. Ohtoir's office was bright and endless, the chairman's office was dark with only a few stained glass windows letting eerie colored light filter in. Taking a deep breath Haruhi sat down across from the blonde haired man smiling softly at her.

Any thought that anything would be different was washed out of her head when he started asking her the typical questions. He wanted to know how where classes and how was her father, and how she felt she was doing this far at school. They chatted casually and Haruhi was almost confident that the interview would be a success until she heard a question she did not expect to hear.

"And how is Takashi doing?" the older man asked her casually, as if it was a topic discussed causally like the weather.

She looked up eyes wide, breathing in quickly.

"Excuse me?" was all she could manage, hoping that she had heard him wrong.

"I said 'how is Takashi?' Or have you already forgotten about your husband?" he asked her in an overly friendly voice that was bordering on sarcasm.

"I know my husbands name," Haruhi recovered quickly "I just wasn't aware that you did."

"Ah yes, well, I wouldn't have known, expect for the frantic call I got from my son this morning, long distance from France, claiming the virtue of his dear daughter was at stake to a ruffian. He asked me to look into it for him, which I did, and, to my surprise, he was correct. The confirmation on your marriage broke his heart; he was hoping to marry you, my dear. Despite how you hurt my son, the ironic thing is that, you really hurt yourself even more."

An empty laugh came from the normal smiling face of her blonde mentor.

"You see the sad thing, Morinozuka Haruhi, is that by getting married you forfeited your scholarship."

Haruhi sat as silent as a stone. As her world slowly started to crush in on her she heard the man across from her chuckled. It was if the world had stopped moving for a moment, she sat completely still, frozen, then after a moment of this utter stillness, her mind and heart beat started to rush forward, as if making up for the time they had been frozen.

"What? I am sorry, I don't understand" she stuttered, her logical mind was searching desperately for an answer.

"Well, it's really simple actually. As an aspiring lawyer this is a very good life lesson. You see, the contract you signed, stated in the clause that you were a student in need. A special student as we like to call them, an amazing mind with no financial abilities to speak of to pay for schooling, and a rather dead end situation ahead of them. You are a prime example of that type of student. Well, by marrying you changed your statues, and stopped being a dependent on you father. Thus you are no longer entitled to the scholarship."

He smiled an almost wicked smile at her, watching her with her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide in horror.

"Of course you do have a couple of options. You could transfer to the public school in the area, or find another source of educational income or... divorce your husband."

Her eyes which had drifted to the floor shot up to look the Chairman. The man in front of her wasn't the kind man she spoke with before, or the caring father of one of her really good friends. He had turned into a very ugly person, she didn't know if he was acting this way because he wouldn't be winning his bet, or because she had broken his son's heart.

"Well, it is Monday and I will give you until Friday to make you decision. After Friday you will be dropped from the school and no longer be considered a student at Ouran High School, if you stay married that is."

Somewhere in the background she heard the school chimes ringed signaling the end of classes.

"Oh my, well you'd better be going; school is over for the day. Have a good week Morinozuka Haruhi, and hopefully it won't be your last one at Ouran." He said as he slowly stood and walked out of his office, not looking back at the young woman he left sitting in his office.

She could feel her eyes start to water, '_No, I will not cry here. I won't give him the satisfaction to know that he is hurting me'. _She grabbed her bag and walked away with as much dignity as she could muster. She remained cool walking through campus, waving when other said good bye to her. She stayed calm until she was off school grounds where she broke into a run, trying to get to the park as fast as she could.

Takashi was sitting on his favorite park bench (which happened to be the same park bench that he comforted Haruhi on almost three months ago). He sat there, watching the wind blow through the trees, waiting for his wife. He thought about how his life had changed so much since then; he almost didn't recognize himself. Now he had thoughts and worries he would have never imagined having and passions he never felt before. He was eternally thankful to the young woman who brought him all these feelings, and he wished there was something more he could do for her than just try to be her protector. Deep down he knew she could take care of herself, but that she let him help meant the world to him.

His mind was busy thinking of something nice to do for Haruhi, when he was roused from his thoughts by the sound quick footsteps, he stood up quickly ready to intercept whatever was coming his way, but he never expected this whatever to have arms thrown around him.

They were the tiny arms of his wife; she wrapped them desperately around him, as if he was the only thing keeping her from breaking into thousands of little pieces. Haruhi did not see his shocked reaction because she buried her face deeply into his chest and wept.

Once Mori regained his senses he protectively put his arms around his wife's small frame, trying to offer her as much comfort as he could.

"Haruhi," he said trying to get her to pull her face out his chest. "Haruhi what is wrong?" He felt a rush of uncontrollable anger at the idea someone might have upset her. "What happened?"

His heart was beating faster than it ever before, he needed to find out who hurt her. She cried when she found out she was being used in the bet, but those were tears of frustration and angry. Now she was crying as if someone had been killed. She was reacting as if a part of her had been ripped away. He didn't know how those thoughts were not that far off from the truth.

"Th…they t...t…took it away." She stuttered into his chest. She was breathing in short erratic breathes and Takashi could tell she was starting to hyperventilate.

"Haruhi," he said calmly rubbing her back with his hand. "You need to breath. Breathe deeply, slowly. Please."

She tried but she was still to upset. She just ended up choking on more air

"Please. Please breathe with me" he whispered urgently to her. As if she noted the urgency in his voice she set her head against his rising and falling chest. Mori starting to breathe deeply himself, her head against his rising and falling chest caused her to catch onto his rhythm and she slowly calmed down, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

When she was breathing normally, he was worried about asking her what happened again, not knowing if she would start to hyperventilate again, but he knew he had to ask sooner or later. So he picked up where she left off.

"Haruhi, what did they take from you?"

"My scholarship… my dreams" she whispered into his chest sadly.

Mori quickly looked down; unsure if had just heard what he did.

"What? Why?" Inside his heart he was hoping for a mistake, an error, a miscalculation.

"Because…because I am married" she whispered again into his chest.

Takashi, had always been even a man who kept a cool face, it was something he was very proud of, something that brought him honor in his family. Even when he kept a blank face he still felt emotions as deeply as anyone else did. At that moment he felt his heart drop down into the pit of his stomach. It felt as if his heart stayed in its new location and it old spot was instead filled with a pin cushion. As if a thousand pins that caused him pain in a new way to remind him that this was his fault. He did everything he could to protect her, and instead he ruined her future.

The sadness he was experiencing didn't stay too long before guilt arrived, and with that guilt, the deep rivers of rage started to set in.

"They can not do this" he growled into Haruhi's hair.

She nodded into his chest "Yes they can, my schooling contract was only withholding when I was a dependent of my father, but now that I am no longer attached to him in that way, thus making my scholarship as his dependent, null and void. Mr. Souh gave me a few options; I can go to public school, find a new method of payment or file for divorce." The last three words she whispered, as if hoping he wouldn't hear them.

Yet he had heard her, and his heart, for all of the intense and unfamiliar pains he was feeling today, felt like it had stop. While it was true they had only been married for a month, the tiny women in his arms had, oddly enough, worked her way so completely into his life he didn't think he could picture living it without her.

The two stood in silence, her head flush against his chest and his chin resting on top of her head, looking out into space. Neither moved, they held onto each other as if would be the last time they would see each other. Even when they felt the chilly winds of rain start to blow, they stood there. Not until the rain actually started to fall did they let go of each other. Their unspoken agreement to remain in their embrace caused them to walk home in the rain which neither seemed to notice, both had their heads full of thoughts. Mori had protectively draped his arm around her shoulder, and hers was around the small of his back, as they walked with heavy hearts and busy minds.

Their mutual silence carried on through the rest of the evening. Not a word was spoken as they sat across from each other and ate dinner, nor when they both sat down to study. They both pretended to be engrossed in their studies while neither of them actually looked at their books.

Mori was ridden with guilt, he looked at his wife. _'She is my wife'_ he reminded himself and that even though she might not be for much longer, he decided that he would enjoy addressing her as that while he could. He wouldn't blame her if she left him; he was convinced that what she was debating wither she should or not over in her head right now.

What Haruhi was debating was far from divorcing Mori, that of all of the options was the least likely to happen. She was happy to be married; for once she was living in a stable situation, no longer worrying if she and her father were going to be kicked from their apartment for not making rent. She didn't have to think about bills anymore, it was no longer her reasonability to make sure they got paid. While she liked her knew stable home, she also really liked her stable husband.

Takashi was what she needed. Her father even thought she loved him, was never there, and was never the adult. Tamaki was too much like her father for her to have ever felt any romantic feelings for him. The twins were selfish, and she knew would have taken advantage of her. Kyoya would have manipulated her, and Huni well was Huni, and she could have never agreed to marrying him because he was to much like a little brother. Yet her husband, he was so unlike the others, it made him even more special to her. Haruhi cursed the Souh family for using such an obscure loop hole on her.

The rest of the evening passed in silence. The quiet was finally broken when they both were laying in bed yet neither one was asleep. Haruhi was lying on her side with her back to her husband, staring off into nothingness, with a blank mind. While Mori laid staring up at the ceiling his mind full of plans to help his wife.

Of all the plans and courses of action he had thought they could take there was only one that seemed worth mentioning out loud to her. He felt that it solved two problems, the first one was what to do about the Souh family and two, what he could give Haruhi, to thank her for becoming his wife and changing his life. So as softly as he could, he broke the silence.

"Haruhi," he whispered to the dark. "I'll pay for your schooling"

At first he thought she was asleep, because he heard no noise come from her. But he was proven wrong when she rolled over and looked at him with shock.

He sat up and put his forehead in his hands, muttering to her "Haruhi, this is all my fault, I was so eager and ready to protect you, that I caused all of this. It was me, and my readiness to marry you that caused you to lose your scholarship. We could have figured out other plans, other ways to get you away from those two families, but I wanted to help you so badly that I caused you to lose what you want most, your dreams and ambitions. I would understand if you left me."

His last sentence hung in the air. Instinctively Haruhi wrapped her arms around her husband's midsection, smelling the clean sent of him after he showered.

"Please Takashi, please. This isn't your fault. You need to know that. You really are protecting me, and helping me. We thought of many different plans but my marriage to you was the best plan. As far as I am concerned divorce is not an option, I feel that they are trying to make us choose that route. Making you feel bad and causing me to blame you. But I won't, Takashi. I don't know if I could live happily anywhere else but here with you. Beside I haven't lost my goals or ambitions, if anything this has made them stronger."

He smiled through his hands at her. Thinking to himself '_That is my wife, always determined'_

"But" she continued "I can't let you pay for my education. It is just too expensive."

"Haruhi please, let it be my wedding present to you. I know some women expect expensive jewelry, others want pieces of art. Well let me give you something priceless; let me help make your dreams come true. We'll enroll you under Morinozuka Haruhi, next week after they drop Fujioka Haruhi." He looked at her hopefully as he told his plan "Please Haruhi" he said softly, looking at her "I could never forgive myself if you gave up on your dreams because of me."

Haruhi sat there looking at her husband. His face, to a person who wasn't used to being around him would have seemed blank, but his eyes were so active with emotion. '_He really wants to do this for me._' She thought to herself. _'He really wants me to reach my dreams._' She smiled at him softly.

"Thank you Takashi, thank you so much."

He smiled a smile that reached his eyes when he heard her accept his gift. They laid down together her head on his chest listening to hear his heart beat. It wasn't long before she had fallen asleep, with all of the pressure suddenly off her mind she realized how tired she really was, and sleep claimed her quickly. Her Husband on the other hand, laid awake a little longer, his mind too active for rest.

"Haruhi" he whispered to the sleeping girl. "I would do anything to protect you and your dreams…I…I love you"

Takashi closed his eyes. He felt better now that he had said that one sentence that he had been wanting to say for the last month. As he drifted off to sleep, he wished with every inch of his being, that he had the courage to tell that he loved her when she was awake.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: thank you once again to everyone out there reading this. I wish i could let you know how thankful i am for having the chance to write for such a good and supportive group of people. Now this chapter was written really to show how much Kaoru and Hikaru support Haruhi and give us a peak into Takashi's past. The good new is my next two chapters have already been read by my fantastic beta. Monedameow, my beta is a fantastic lady and she has really helped me when it comes to the ending. Hopefully my next two chapters will be up with relative speed. so thank you all once again. and of course I do not own Ouran High school host club **

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Of Respect and Friendship

by buddhistbabe

Chapter Six

Soon a week had passed and a new Monday morning began. Class 12-A started their day with upsetting new. Fujioka Haruhi was no longer a member of their class. The students couldn't remain silent for the rest of this announcement. The class was buzzing with people asking each other if she had said anything to any of them, rumors soon were starting. The only two people who said nothing were the two loudest member of 12-A, Hikaru and Kaoru, they both knew that Haruhi had been dropped from the school this morning for not divorcing Mori.

They found out last week, when Haruhi never showed up Monday for their first day of Host club for the new school year. The pair of doppelgangers were so worried about Haruhi they almost shut down the club on opening day to find her, but they figured that wouldn't be a good idea. They didn't want to panic the women at the club. They found out the next day, after leaving over twenty messages on her phone, she told them the truth during lunch.

She had to physically restrain the two to prevent them from going straight to the Chairman and giving him a piece of their minds. It took some time before Haruhi quieted both of them, to tell them that she was going to re-enroll under Morinozuka. The pair didn't like the plan, not because it wasn't a good plan, because they all agreed it was. What they didn't like about it was there was no repercussion on the Chairman. No one would know what happened to Haruhi, and why she had to re-enroll. She didn't feel that she needed to explain that to her classmates, her main concern was that they would forgive her for lying to them. That was where the twins decided to take the plan into their owns hands.

Kaoru glanced sideways at his bother over the empty seat that was Haruhi. Hikaru met his gaze an nodded. Both had been feeling upset over their best friends marriage, even though they were lucky enough to be a part of it, unlike their other high school friends. Their lack of seeing their friend had made them over-protective of her when they got the chance to see her, and they knew that after today Haruhi would never be returning to the Host club.

Once the class had gotten over the shock of the loss of Haruhi the homeroom teacher announced that they would be having a new student joining them that day. Everyone turned to see a short hair girl in a yellow dress walk into the room.

"Everyone" state the homeroom teacher calmly, "this is Morinozuka Haruhi."

The buzz that circled the class was anything but quite, the homeroom teacher once tried in vain to gain control. From where Haruhi was standing in front of the class she could hear all sorts of things being whispered about her.

"That's Haruhi, why is she being called a new student" "Better yet why is Haruhi dressed as a girl?" "HARUHI IS A GIRL?" "With Morinozuka as a last name." "Why was she pretending to be a boy?"

"Class, class" said the Homeroom teacher loudly, trying to gain control of the class again as they broke out into a murmer. "I am sure you have many questions, we all do but we need to continue on with the days plans."

Haruhi walked towards her seat. Feeling eyes follow her all the way to her desk in the back. Morning classes continued as normal for Haruhi, expect that every time she looked up someone else was staring at her. Somehow she knew none of her fellow students were paying any attention to the teacher. They were all deciding how they felt about the new Haruhi, and she could tell by the evil looks that were being thrown at her that not everyone was pleased with the truth.

Haruhi wasn't the only one who noticed the upset looks. Hikaru and Kaoru had noticed too. They, unlike Haruhi, focused more on the class's reaction than on the class lesson itself. They saw the notes being passed and knew rumors were being spread. The doppelgangers looked at each other over Haruhi's head, that was buried in her school books. They had to do something to prevent the bad rumors that were going to sent flying across campus when lunch happened and everyone left the classroom. They had to act before then.

The clock signaled that it was lunch time, and their teacher left, Hikaru got to the door before any of the students could leave.

"Whats going on?" asked a guy from their class who was trying to get out, no doubt to tell his friends that Haruhi in class 12-A really was a girl.

Other students looked around to see that their exit was blocked.

"Take your seat for a moment. There is something Haruhi need to tell you." Kaoru said to their fellow class mates.

"Why would we want to listen to Haruhi, he, I mean, she has lied to all of us for years now." Said a girl in their class angrily, Haruhi knew that she was one of her best costumers and must have been taking the deception extra hard.

"Hikaru, they don't have to stay." Haruhi said weakly.

"No, you have gone through to much to have your classmates turn their backs on you. So all of you sit down, you need to know the truth." said Hikaru forcefully.

"Haruhi never meant to lie to all of you but there is a reason for all of this." said Kaoru dragging Haruhi to the front of the class.

She stood there feeling all of theirs eyes one her.

"First I would like to apologize for my deception, I am very sorry that I lied to you all about my gender. I am truly sorry if I hurt any of you with my lie. My first year here, I accidentally broke an 800,000 yen vase and to repay my debt I worked as a host for the host club, but I had to hid it from you all, my classmates, that I was a girl. I am truly sorry for this lie and I deeply hope that you all will forgive me."

Haurhi looked down at her feet, and took a deep breath, and started to head back to her seat, expect she felt one of the twins grab her arm.

"Haruhi that's not all of it, you need to tell them why you have to be a girl now." Said Kaoru, who happened to be the one with his arm around her. "You need to tell them the truth, and if you don't then we will. This is also going to be pay back to the chairman." He whispered into her ear.

Hikaru stood next to Haruhi, saying loudly and dramatically. "You need to tell them that the chairman took away your scholarship, because you fell in love."

That sentence alone caused all of the students to focus on Haruhi.

"What do you mean?" asked one of the Host club costumers.

"Well" Kaoru continued picking up where his brother left off. "During the summer Haruhi was reunited with her secret love. Morinozuka Takashi, he was a senior in host club with us when we were in class 10."

"They spent so much time together over the summer, they realized that they were meant to be together" Hikaru interjected sighing heavily, playing up the drama as much as he could

"So as most young lover do, they got married, but when Haruhi returned to school the chairman…"

"Mr. Souh."

"Told her that because she was married her scholarship was pulled."

"So he told her that she could either go to public school…"

"Or she could divorce her new husband" they ended together dramatically.

Haruhi stood next to them dumbfounded at the version of the story they were feeding the class. What amazed her even more was how the class was really buying it.

"Well of course the two star crossed lovers, coming for different social levels, couldn't be separated" Continued Hikaru after a pause.

"Her Husband, Mori-senpai, couldn't stand how she was being treated at this school, a smart girl like Haruhi, being forced to go to public school, all because she followed her heart. So…"

"He decided to trick the system and together they enrolled Haruhi under her new last name, as a new student.

"So that is why she is here with us now as a girl because the chairman tried to keep her from attending."

"We all know how bad he wanted Haruhi to marry his son, Souh Tamaki, I personally think it was revenge.

"I agree with you Kaoru. Our Chairman is supposed to be looking out for his students not hurting them out of revenge. I mean and it Haruhi, she has always been there for everyone in our class.

Haruhi looked around at all of the faces of her class mates after the twin's performance. All of the upset and angry faces that were once directed at her were now in discussion about the acts of the chairman. While every fan girls eyes were watering over the heart-breaking romance.

"Haruhi we never knew you were such a romantic" said one girl to her as she was walking back to her desk.

"Can you believe they would pull her scholarship because of love?"

"Mori is so handsome, she is so lucky."

Once she got to her seat, she looked back at her friends who were standing up in the front of the class, telling other students the details of her wedding. She caught one of their eyes and he winked at her. She smiled back, extremely thankful to have them on her side.

Both of the twins were congratulating themselves on how they turned the tide against the chairman. They knew that once everyone left the class room their story would spread like wildfire. The students would go home and tell their parents, and no one likes a rotten chairman, especially because he was getting all kinds of positive publicity with the fact that he was paying for Haruhi to attend Ouran. They smiled at each other, even thought they couldn't protect Haruhi like Mori could. They would still protect their friend and both were relieved to have their dear friend back with them were she belonged, with them.

After school that day, both Takashi and Haruhi agreed that he should start meeting her in front of the school. It would be acceptable, now that everyone knew they were married. On their first day meeting Haruhi couldn't find her husband outside the school. That was until she spotted the crowd of girls peaking around a corner whispering. What she found was her husband, dressed in causal clothing, leaning against a lamp post waiting for her. She smiled at the scene and walked towards him. The pair made quite a sight for all of the Host club's fan girls. When she reach him, her took her school bag from her with one hand and took her hand in the other, the pair walked away together, working hard to ignore the swooning girls watching them.

The week progressed easily for Haruhi at school. Easier then they ever had when she was in the host club actually, which she was no longer a member of. It was decided that because Haruhi's true gender was out that if she continued as a host the club would actually lose profits because her older customers would look to a new host and it would be her time wasted. Within a few days time, Haruhi already missed her time spent with the Host club, her time with her best friends, something she never thought she would admit too. Then to top it all off she was really starting to loath the yellow dress uniform.

Sadly the week progressed slowly for Haruhi at home. She had quickly become restless with all of her free time now that she didn't have the Host club to attend. She considered joining another club, but everything she looked at was nothing compared to the host club.

Instead she would return from school finished her studying and homework right away, then she would have tea with Takashi after which he would leave for the dojo. Haruhi was amazed in husband's dedication to Kendo. He would wake early and meditate, then would practice before his classes. During his long break between his morning and afternoon classes he was found training again. Plus his evening kendo practice, which would be the one with a larger group of students, where Mori helped assist with the younger students.

One side of Haruhi was envious that he had something he was so passionate about, but the other, stronger side of her was proud at how hard he pushed himself, and she wanted to follow in his footsteps with something she cared about.

That is were things became problematic, because once Mori had left for training, Haruhi had nothing to do, and had nothing to be passionate for. One the first day she cleaned, and then decided to try a new recipe for dinner. Yet when the second day came around everything was still clean, so she decided to start moving the furniture around, and then cook another exotic meal. This continued on, for the next few days, every time Takashi came home from the dojo something was different, and something steadily stranger was being served for dinner.

By the fifth day it was no longer the boredom that was getting to Haruhi, because she was finding ways to keep herself busy, even if she was fixing little things around the apartment. What was becoming the problem was the fact the Mori never made a comment on anything. He never gave his opinion on the meal, other than to thank her and say that it was good even when it was chili and kielbasa (she found an international cook book in the school library). He never made mention of what she did to the furniture. Not even when she decided to push the couch right in front of the window and face it outwards so you only had a few out their 4th story window.

She was frustrated. _'Does he not care about our home?_' she thought bitterly. '_He never tells me what he likes or dislikes, I don't even know what to cook for him._' Haruhi was also mad at herself. She knew she wanted to be more considerate with her husband but he wasn't even communicating with her properly.

That night over a dinner of Kimchi and calamari, Haruhi couldn't keep in her frustration quiet any longer and spoke up.

"Takashi, do you like the dinner?"

"Yes its good, thank you very much for making it" he said politely nodding towards her, and taking a sip of tea.

Silence followed this statement. Haruhi watched him for another moment before trying again.

"Well, what do you think of the living room today?"

He looked up at her with questioning and uncertain eyes. "It is very nice"

Silence once again devoured the couple.

Haruhi could feel the pressure in her rising. Before she could even start to consider breathing deeply to calm down she slammed down her tea cup causing hot tea to pour over her hand. She didn't notice the pain her hand as she spoke up, she was to upset.

"DON'T YOU HAVE AN OPNION ON ANYTHING?"

Takashi knew something was bothering Haruhi, he had noticed the change in her at the start of the week. He figured it had something to do with the twins, or school, but he didn't think it would have been himself that was upsetting her. All he could do was sit and blink at her rather stunned and unsure of what to do until he noticed her hand.

"Haruhi you burned your hand. Come with me" he said leading her into the kitchen, where he grabbed a cool damp cloth.

"Takashi you can't avoid my question" she said defiantly, as he put the cool clothe against her burn.

He looked down at her and blinked again before bowing his head and looking at her hand, trying not to make eye contact with her.

"I am sorry Haruhi, I don't really understand your question."

"For the last week I have changed the apartment around, I have cooked foreign foods, and it originally started out because I was bored. You have kendo, and you are so dedicated and good at it and you really enjoy it. I wanted something too, and I have always liked cooking, and I never really minded cleaning to much. So it just started out as something to do. But I really wanted you opinion on what I was doing, if you like how I set up our home. But you said nothing, and it causes me to believe you either don't care about our home or didn't notice."

He looked at her softy before speaking.

"I am sorry Haruhi, I did not mean to offend you with my lack of opinion. But where I grew up my opinions on matters like food or furniture or my tastes in those things were…well, not valued very highly. So I learned to stop voicing them."

He looked away, recalling memories of the past. To the time when he mentioned thinking red and yellow roses was an odd combination of flowers to have on the table, and how after then no one ever brought in flowers. To the year he told his grandma he didn't like sweets even though Mitsukuni loved them, he remember the cold look she gave him for his rude manners. To the last time he gave his opinion on how his mother re-organized his room, when he mentioned he wanted to move his desk back to being away from the window, his mother look so hurt that he never did move it.

"I am sorry if this caused you pain, I never wanted to upset you with my silence, but I figured it was for the best, so I couldn't offend you with my tastes."

Haruhi sat listening to her husband as he wiped the cool cloth over her burned hand gently, as if she was in a trance. Her eyes grew wider at this look into Takashi past.

It was very true that he never talked about it with her, and Kyoya did mention that Takashi had problems he never mentioned before. She felt instantly bad for making him feel guilty for something he was trained to do. She couldn't image not having her opinion heard and valued by her family. Even as a small child her mother and father always listened to her thoughts on everything. To think that her husband was so quiet because no one wanted to hear him broke her heart.

"No, its okay Takashi" she said softly. "I am sorry I got upset. I guess I never understood where you were coming from. But I want you to know, your opinion mean everything to me. It is very important and I would love to hear your ideas about where we live and what we eat. No matter how mundane or silly you think it might be. It is still important."

She set her hand on top of his and looked into his dark eyes.

"I want to know how you feel about our life here together. It is very very important to me to know what you think, even if it is about trivial things like food and furniture. I want to know those things about you." She smiled brightly at him.

"After all you are my husband; I need to know your favorites."

He leaned his forehead against hers and whispered "then I will tell you all you need to know, if it is important to you."

"It really is." she whispered back. "When it comes to you, you will always be most important."


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hi everyone only 2 more chapter to go after this one, once again thank you for your support, also thanks to my stellar fantastic beta who helped me so much on this chapter, Monedameow, you are a life saver. The next chapter is planned to be published Wensday, the only day of the next 7 days that i don't work, so i am sorry but you need to wait until wensday. So also i do not own Ouran High School Host club.**

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Of Respect and Friendship

by Buddhistbabe

Chapter seven

Every day after studying became the most excruciatingly boring time for Haruhi. After talking with Takashi, she realized she didn't have to clean everyday, and was no longer rearranging every piece of furniture that she and her husband owned. She wasn't a member of the host club anymore, but some days she visited them every once and a while to help the new host from the younger classes get settled, but for her it was never the same.

In a disparate attempt to get rid of her boredom she turned to the kitchen as her source of comfort. Cooking had always been a source of comfort for Haruhi, it also served as a connection to her mother. There was a comfort in making foods that she knew her mother had cook for her years before. So Haruhi baked, and she baked a lot. What started out as a small venture turned huge when she started baking favorite cookies for everyone she knew. She baked batches for her father, Huni, the twins, Kyoya, Takashi, and even her mother-in-law.

When Mori came home after the first night of this, he was shocked, even if his face didn't show it, to find every surface in their kitchen and their dinning table covered with cookies, and Haruhi was pulling more out of the oven. He had only seen this many baked goods once and that was for Mitsukuni's 13th birthday, the sheer amount of sugar used was amazing. When his wife noticed the look he was giving her, all she could say in her defense was "I was bored." with a sheepish smile.

So, baking became a daily ritual. While she no longer baked for everyone in one day, she picked a day of the week and assigned everyone their own day, and on their day she would bake their favorites. Takashi became used to walking into their apartment every day to find her covered in flour up to her elbows with her hair pulled back in a bandana.

Some days she would deliver her cookies instead of baking more. On those days she would have tea with her father in his apartment, or she would go with Takashi to the dojo with a basket of cookies for Huni.

Her favorite days turned out to be the ones where she had tea with Mori's mother in her own personal tea parlor drinking tea from wherever her husband had last traveled. Mori's father was a world famous architect; he spent time anywhere, from a few weeks to a few months at a time, checking out building construction. The sadness Mrs. Morinozuka felt at her husband being gone all the time caused her to invite Haruhi to spend at least two of her baking afternoons with her, to help her ease her loneliness.

It was now late October about a week from Halloween, and Haruhi had been visiting her regularly for the last two weeks, every visit similar to the last. They would be having tea and light conversation on safe topics, like how the dojo was doing, or how classes were preceding. While it was common knowledge that both women enjoyed the visits, Haruhi couldn't help but feeling like each visit was carried out with to much civility. One afternoon Haruhi decided to tempt fate and the rules of etiquette to ask the question that had been on her mind since her first visit.

"Mrs. Morinozuka?" she asked to the beautiful older women sitting across from her. "Did you love your husband when you married him?"

Mori's mother slowly lifted her eyes up from her tea cup to meet Haruhi's, but they didn't hold the anger she was expecting them too, they shown a light of understand.

"Did I love him?" She started with a soft smile, as she set down her tea cup. Settling herself in to tell a story.

"Well, we did not marry for love, if by that you mean the fast love and undying dedication that comes with youth. We were arranged to be married. But we were friends first."

Mrs. Morinozuka's eyes drifted from Haruhi's to outside the windows, where she gazed at the bright colors of the fall.

"Because my elder brother, Mitsukuni's father, was going to carry on the Haninozuka name, and thus the dojo and most of our family managements, our parents felt that I needed to marry someone who had different tastes, other than marital arts. There was no need for me to marry into another dojo family; they wanted to expand the family name into other activities."

"My Husband Hatori, is actually my 3rd cousin. You might have known that the Morinozuka family has long served the Haninozuka family, before marriage combined the two bloodlines making them equal in status. Well as we all know traditions die hard, and Hatori was the Morinozuka who watched after me, but his interests did not lay in the martial arts he was trained in. Art was his passion, he could spend hours looking at a painting and recall the images months later with perfect accuracy. He was an avid collector, and when he got permission to go to the university for architecture, my parents decided to enter into a marriage contract with his parents."

She took a slow drink from her tea cup before continuing.

"At first I was really angry. I didn't know what to do, I couldn't escape, what I really wanted was to marry for love, but my fate wasn't to be like that. Not longer after my elder brother was married, I was too. Yet I learned I was lucky, because when I looked at the member of the family who had also been in arranged marriages none of them seemed as happy as Hatori and me. We had things the other couples around us did not have, and that was a friendship and the understanding of each other. Our indifference to each other gradually faded, and then I awoke one morning realizing I was in love with the man lying next to me. All the small things I noticed about him, and the things he did to make me smile, showed me what love really was."

"So I guess if you are wondering if I married for love, the answer is no. But if you are asking if I married the best man I could have, and if I am truly happy, and deeply in love? Of course, no one is as well suited for me as my husband." she finished with her eyes gleaming.

Haruhi sat, absorbing the story like a sponge, clinging to the details and words. It was a beautiful story, and was hoping deeply that the same will happen to her. While Haruhi knew that she had the respect of her husband and the friendship and understand they had together, she wasn't sure if she loved him.

There were things Haruhi did know about her husband. She knew that she enjoyed being with him, just sitting together in relative silence was enough. And she liked doing things just for him, to see him smile at her making his lunch, small things like that made her truly happy. Moments when he smiled at her while she woke up with her hair a mess, and when she caught his eye watching her cook instead of reading his text book, she did cherish those moments. Did those things add up to love? Did she love him?

These thoughts were running so deeply in Haruhi head that she didn't noticed that Mrs. Morinozuka had been saying her name.

"Haruhi? Haruhi? Are you okay?"

"Oh yes, I am sorry I was just thinking"

An understanding smile crept across the elder woman's face.

"Well, my dear, I hate to cut our tea short but I have just been told a terrible storm warning is coming and I think is best if you get back home before Takashi shows up or he'll be worried about you. Knowing him he would run all the way here in the rain to check if you are okay. Thank you so much my dear for coming today, it was really nice to get this chance to talk to you. Next time you stop by, bring my son, and I will get out the baby photos" they chuckled as she walked Haruhi to the door.

"Thank you very much for everything Mrs. Morinozuka."

"Haruhi, we are family. Please call me mom." she called as Haruhi started to walk to the main doors.

"Oh Dear, one more thing" the elder woman called behind Haruhi. "The family Christmas party is at the end of December, it would really be in your's and Takashi's best interest to come and meet that family."

"Thank you."

Mrs. Morinozuka sighed as she watched the main doors close, feeling a little worried about Haruhi meeting the family at Christmas. Their family was…difficult to become a part of to say the least. She looked up at the grey clouds rolling in and smiled as she thought of the wonderful young girl, who was the daughter she never had, and was confident that she would do just fine when the time came.

The ride back to the apartment was quiet as Haruhi wonder back on what had just been discussed. She was so distracted she didn't see the huge black clouds forming in the sky. Her mind was so occupied that as she walked from the limo to the door that she never felt the rain drops starting to fall all around her. She finally noticed the weather when she got to her apartment and looked out the windows searching the street below for the figure of her husband coming home from Kendo. She was hoping frantically he would get home before the storm hit.

Mori was practicing very hard, concentrating all of his attention on his sparing partner. He waited, never liking being the first to strike; he liked to see the weakness of his opponents during their attacks, so he knew how to efficiently bring them down. His waiting was about to pay of, in one lightening quick move he knocked his attacker to the ground with one move, and one hit of the shinai.

He went to help up his sparing partner, and that was when he noticed the sky starting to turn dark. His thoughts were immediately pulled from Kendo and the review of the practice fight to his wife. He knew that today she was visiting his mother, but if she reached the apartment before him he would be breaking the promise he made to her that she would never come home to an empty house. What worried him more was that if she got there before him and the storm started what would she do? He turned quickly to leave but was stopped by Huni, who was wearing a very serious and un-Huni like expression.

"Takashi, I just received a call from my mother. It seems that your mom has invited Haruhi to the Christmas party."

Mori looked up with slight panic on his face.

To an outsider no one would understand why a family spoke so heavily about Christmas. Normally the idea of a Christmas party was met with cheer and excitement. Those people had never attended a Haninozuka/Morinozuka family gathering. The look Mori was giving his cousin showed his worry at the idea of exposing Haruhi to the critical and judgmental eye of their family.

"Don't worry Takashi, I am sure we will be able to figure out a plan for my grandparents when the time comes, but at the moment, I think you should head home with Haru-chan. The weather is getting much worse." With a nod to his short friend he turned around and ran.

The heavy rain had started to pour by the time he had stepped out of the dojo and ran toward his ride. That was when he heard it, the crush of thunder. His heart started to beat faster, and his thoughts were consumed by one thought: 'Haruhi's fear'. He wrenched open the door to his car and jumped in. hoping to make it home quickly.

When Haruhi heard the thunder, she was balled up on the couch, a blanket wrapped around her, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. She was afraid, but for once, her fear was not focused on herself getting struck by lighting, but on Takashi out there in the lighting storm.

The lightning and thunder crashed on as she wrapped the blanket tighter. Her muscles were paralyzed with fear at the idea that her husband was out in this storm, so similar to the one that started her fears so many years before. Her worry was making her sick.

Takashi's feet flew up the stairs taking three steps at a time; he just pulled up in his car, and was now making his way up the stairs to their apartment. He reached the door and pushed it open to see Haruhi, wrapped in a blanket, shivering with fear.

The noise made Haruhi to look out between the folds of her blanket. Through the opening she saw Takashi dripping wet. At that moment the relief of seeing him caused her to forget the lighting and rush towards him, wrapping her arms around his soaking frame. She didn't mind the water dripping off him on to her; all she cared about was that he was safe.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Haruhi. I am so sorry" he said to the top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her. "I broke my promise to you, I said you would never come to an empty home, and I lied. I am so sorry. Are you okay?" He asked her softly, hoping that she would forgive him.

"I was so scared and so worried. But you are okay, and that's all that matters." She said into his chest. "It doesn't matter that you weren't here, it only matters that you are here now. I saw so worried something had happened to you Takashi. My mother died during a storm like this. When you weren't here all I could do was worry about you. But you are safe, and now you are home with me."

The arms around her tightened their embrace as she told him that. Mori was not expecting this. He knew she was afraid of thunder, but he never really understood why, he always assumed it had to do with amount of noise. Another crash of thunder rumbled through the sky, causing his wife to cling tighter to his chest. He held her close, doing what he always tried to do his best at, protecting her.

Mori was always a man of impulse, but he was also a man of self-control. He could always hold back and keep in check his instinctive reactions unless he felt them necessary. Today, self-control was not on his side. He wanted to kiss her, they had not had a real kiss yet and they had married in July, almost a full four months now. He loved her that much he knew for sure, he didn't know how to say it, but he wanted to show her.

His hair was still dripping wet, and he could feel the heat radiating off her small frame as she clung to him for life.

"Haruhi?" he said, causing her to look up from his chest and into his dark eyes. His impulse to kiss her soft lips took over him and he lowered his head to hers. Kissing his wife for the first real time, was everything he hoped it would be and more. He heard a small sigh escape from her lips while she kissed him back, a sign that she was enjoying his new way of showing affection. When they broke apart both were blushing fiercely. Haruhi quickly looked away embarrassed to meet his eye. Just as she turned away she saw that they were not alone.

Standing in the open doorway was a shocked, slack-jawed, soaking wet Tamaki.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Here it is chapter eight, thank you everyone for your reviews and comments, it makes me really sad to think that there is only one more chapter. I hopefully will have it up within a week, i still have to send it to my beta. Speaking of Betas my beta is FANTASTIC thank you a million monedameow. if you haven't checked out her stuff you should. oh yes Ouran High school host club is not mine. now without any todo, undo or other do...**

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Of Respect and Friendship

By Buddhistbabe

Chapter Eight

Another roll of thunder echoed through the apartment. The light cast in from the flash of lighting lit up the faces of the three people standing in the room. Haruhi's eyes were wide open, Takashi's face looked impassive, but his eyes were narrowed in anger staring at the intruder.

Tamaki, stood in the doorway, as if his eyes were adjusting to the light, but what his eyes were really adjusting to, was the situation he walked in on. Haruhi and Takashi kissing, they were still holding on to each other. His eyes were locked on the small woman.

"Haruhi?" he started, his voice shocked. A sudden change overtook his voice, and he ran towards the girl pulling her from Mori's embrace and wrapping his arms around her instead.

"HARUHI! I was so worried about you in this storm." He shouted pulling her closer to him. She felt herself being smashed against his chest, and her nose was being overpowered by his flowery scent.

As quickly as she was pulled into his embrace, she was pulled out of it, but this time her husband wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back into him, glaring at his old high school friend.

Haruhi was thankful for her husbands interfearance, she had forgotten what it felt like to be forcefully hugged by her old friend and it was a feeling she didn't want to repeat it anytime soon. With the tension in the room building she finally asked "Tamaki-senpai, what are you doing here?"

"Is a father not welcomed into his daughter's home?" he asked jovially.

"You are not my father" she said to him realistically with no intention to hurt his feelings, which she did. He frowned and coughed into his hand before continuing.

"Actually Haruhi, I wanted to speak with you. But no one would tell me where you lived. Kyoya refused to tell me where you were, even though I know he has your new address on file somewhere. I went to the dread doppelgangers and they flat out refused me, saying I had no right to speak to you. Your father wasn't home. So I decided to go to the Haninozuka dojo and speak to Huni. Luckily, I saw Mori-senpai leaving the dojo, and I knew if I followed him I would find you Haruhi. What is going on, why is everyone trying to keep me away from seeing you?"

Blinking with shock Haruhi looked up at her husband who was stilling holding her against him. He looked down to meet her gaze. He nodded and then released her. She then led both gentlemen into the kitchen, where she started making tea.

Her mind was busy with what Tamaki had said, as she boiled the water for tea. All of her friends from the host club had tried to hide her and protect her from their passion driven French friend. Yet he didn't seem to know at all why everyone was trying to keep them apart.

Soon she joined the pair sitting at the table with three cups of tea. The two men remained in silence all the time Haurhi was making the tea. Neither one could think of something to say to the other. Once she was seated between the two Tamaki spoke up again.

"Haruhi, are you mad at me? Is that why everyone is trying to keep me away from you?" He asked her honestly.

'Does he really not knows?' Haruhi thought to herself. 'Doesn't he knows everything that I, no, that Takashi and I have gone through because of him and his family?'

Her eyes searched his face for any hint that he might have been deceiving her, when she found none (he was always so easy to read), she decided to answer him truthfully.

"Well, Tamaki-sempai, I think they were keeping you away because of the bet, and because they didn't know how you would react to the news of me being married."

The tea cup at his lips paused, and he slowly set the cup back down. Looking up at her and smiling weakly.

"Well, I had heard that you had gotten married. Kyoya called me up and told me but I didn't believe it because I figured you would have told me yourself. I thought we were family, but I guess when I saw you both kissing that I was finally faced with the truth. I should have known Kyoya wouldn't make something like that up."

The hurt expression he wore made Haruhi feel guilty. She knew that he never had much of a family, and that the host club really was created to fill the gap for him.

"I am sorry we didn't tell you Takami-senpai, but with the bet and all we felt it would have been safer to keep it quiet." The words tumbled out of her month. She felt she needed to apologize for not telling him, and when putting it into perspective like that should make it clear to him.

He looked up at her and then looked to Takashi with a puzzled expression.

"What is this bet you keep talking about?"

Haruhi quickly looked at her husband, and saw him narrow his eyes at Tamaki. 'So he doesn't know what to think about this either?' she thought to herself, rather surprised.

"The one your father and Kyoya's father made." She said to him softly, receiving a confused look from her blonde friend.

"The one in which whom ever son won my hand also won land in Hawaii or something like that.

The face that their blonde friend wore was one of shock and disgust. He brought his hand to his month and averted his eyes as his pale cheeks flushed in anger.

"You mean you honestly didn't know?" Haruhi asked in a stunned voice.

"No…no I didn't know" started the young man quietly. "If I would have known I would have done something about this. I can't believe that my father would do this. He knows how important you are to me. I don't understand.

"Well he was very angry when he found out, he said that you wanted to marry me." She said innocently.

At this the blonde blushed. "Well yes, Haruhi, I did. But first I wanted to go to France and find my mother. I wanted to find her so when I finally asked you to be mine you could meet her." He finished sheepishly.

"When I found out from Kyoya that you were married, I hadn't found her yet. I couldn't return until I found her, because if Kyoya was right and I lost you, at least I would have found her. I never knew that my father made that bet, Haruhi, I knew he was upset though, I think he wanted you as a daughter. He always talks of how pleasant you are and how much he likes you"

"Well he has an odd way of showing it. He was so mad at me being married that he pulled my scholarship away."

"WHAT!?" Shouted the blonde. "I can't believe that! What have you been doing for school? Have you been resorted to going to the dreaded and common public school. Do they even have paper and pencils there? Do they have enough books for each student? MY POOR DAUGHTER!"

Haruhi rolled her eyes at his display. 'I guess he didn't really change' she thought as he went through the same routine he did thousands of times at Ouran.

"Tamaki-sempai, I am still going to Ouran" she said to him in a frustrated voice.

"But Haruhi, you can not afford to go to school by yourself."

"I am paying for it." Said the deep voice of Mori. He had been sitting back quietly watching the play in front of him unfold, waiting for his entrance, and here it was.

"It is my gift to my wife. It is an honor to get to pay for her education; I want to be the steady factor in her life, unlike her supporters in the past."

Tamaki's eyes widened at the insinuation he had sent his father's way. But before he could retaliate the gentle giant continued.

"Between her father, and your father, and you claiming to be her father, none of you supported her when she really needed it. That is why I am here now, to give her all she needs and wants. I want her to see that I will always be there for her. That's why I am paying for her schooling. It's a gift for her, for how she has made my life better."

Haruhi smiled up proudly at her husband, he really had been there for her when she needed him the most. His support and his trust made her life possible now. She was happier then she could recall being since her mom passed away. She felt an odd flutter in her chest. 'What is this feeling?' she thought to herself as continued to look at her husband. 'Is this what love feel like?' At that thought she blushed furiously, looking away from her husband, feeling panicked. Love was an emotion Haruhi was almost completely unfamiliar with. She had no idea what to do.

Mori saw out of the corner of his eye that his wife was flushed. Automatically thinking she was being coming ill he put his hand up to her forehead.

Haruhi blushed harder and her heart skipped a beat at the sudden contact.

"Haruhi, you are feeling warm. Are you okay?" he asked with concern in his voice.

She nodded and quickly said she was fine. But none the less he asked Tamaki to leave to give her some rest. The blonde was reluctant to leave if Haruhi wasn't feeling well, but looking at the tall man in front of him. He knew she was in far better hands with her husband.

As he was walking out the door he turned to Haruhi and said "Haruhi I will talk to my father and get him to give you back the scholarship. I am sure he would be willing to, lately his approval rating at the school has been dropping, and by giving you your scholarship back it would help both of you. If you want me to, I will talk to him."

Haruhi felt Mori take her hand as he stood next to her. Sending Tamaki the signal that she was his to take care of. She smiled at his simple act of territoriality.

"Thank you sempai, but we are fine. Aren't we Takashi?"

Her husband nodded. There was nothing left for Tamaki to do, but leave, softly shutting the door behind him. With the click of the doorknob Haruhi gave a loud sigh, and leaned sideways to rest her head on her husband's arm. She heard the clock chime 8pm, and closed her eyes, leaning on the tall man next to her, her day had been exhausting.

She suddenly felt herself being lifted up and she opened her eyes to find herself in her husband's arms.

"Haruhi, you seem tired, I am going to put you in bed so you can rest. Your face was flushed and I know you were caught out in the rain earlier today. I don't want you to get sick"

He said all of this while carrying her to their bedroom and setting her down softly on their mattress.

"But Takashi, I haven't even cooked dinner yet." she said struggling to get out of bed.

But he just pushed her back into bed, telling her that he would cook for them that night. He kissed her on the forehead and he headed for the door. Before he left, he heard her say his name.

"Takashi?"

He turned around to see her smiling face looking at him happily.

"Takashi, thank you, thank you for everything today."

A smile over took his face as he nodded to her, and tried to leave again, but he was called back once more.

"Takashi, your mother told me today about a Christmas party. I think we should go. I would love to meet the rest of your family. I think it sounds like fun, what do you think?"

The smile faded away from his face, and he looked down, deep in thought. He knew he couldn't tell her why he didn't want to go. He couldn't tell her that he was worried about how his family would react to her, because he didn't care if they liked her or not, he loved her and that was all that mattered. But he was worried about how they would treat her, he couldn't stand to see his family belittle her.

Knowing she was still waiting for an answer, he looked up at her and smiled again adding "if you want to go, I would be glad to take you. Now get some rest Haruhi, I will bring you dinner in when it is done."

"Thank you, Takashi, but you are spoiling me".

He gave her a radiant smile.

"No, I only give you what you deserve, I can't help it if you deserve everything.". With that he turned from their room and headed for the kitchen, his mind busy about what to do about the Christmas party, he was thankful his still had all of November and most of December to plan.

He did know that with his last comment he left behind a very flushed and embarrassed wife behind.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Dearest readers and reviewers, here it is, the final chapter of the story. It has all been posted in less then a month, and i will be very sad to see this end. I have loved writing this story and i do not believe i will be writing a sequel for this story. Thank you everyone who has read (over 5000 hits) and reviewed (over 90). There is nothing more moving then someone saying that they found your work to be their favorite. You made this worth every moment. Extra fantastic thanks to my beta, who deserves every amount of praise i give her Monedameow has been wonderful. So i am really sad to post this, because this is the end but thanks again. and so here we go, the ending. and remember, as much as i love to play with Ouran High School Host Club, it isn't mine.**

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Of Friendship and Respect

By Buddhistbabe

Chapter Nine

Before anyone realized December had come. With typical Decembers came cold winds, light snow, and finals. This year with December came a persistent Tamaki, continually offering, and being refused to renew Haruhi's Scholarship and an invitation to the Haninozuka and Morinozuka family Christmas party.

The arrival of the expensive gold lined envelope was accompanied by the excitement of one, and the loathing of another. Takashi watched through lidded eyes as his wife opened the envelope, wishing he could just crumple it up and pretend it never came. He knew it was their invitation to the family party before it was even opened. The family celebration was one place he would rather not be on Christmas Eve with his new wife. He sighed, knowing that it was the one thing Haruhi really wanted to do ever since his mother brought it up almost two months ago.

He wanted nothing more that spending Christmas with Haruhi, just the two of them, maybe going out to dinner or doing something else romantic but fate wouldn't have it that way. He also knew he couldn't say anything to Haruhi about not wanting to go because he couldn't stand to let her down. So he sat quietly across from her while she read the invitation, reviewing his notes for his last final of the semester.

Her eyes skimmed across the expensive paper and large elegant writing before peaking up at her husband who was sitting across from her with all of his books spread across the dining room table. His head was tucked into one of his international business text books. She sighed inwardly to herself; she knew Takashi didn't want to go to the party. He didn't have to say anything for her to know how he felt. Even though he agreed to go and never spoke out against it she could tell by his eyes that his heart wasn't into the party. It was plain as the nose on her face that he didn't want to go, but she just wished she knew why.

A side of her wondered if he was ashamed to bring her in front of his family, she knew that they were all very rich and successful and that maybe her low statue would bother them. Yet she felt that if it didn't bother Takashi, it shouldn't bother them. She thought that maybe it was because he had bad memories of being at the Christmas party in the past, but that also didn't make sense to Haruhi because, wasn't Christmas about spending time with your loved ones? Well whatever it was, it was painfully obvious that he really didn't want to go.

The topic had to be dealt with as soon as possible. She couldn't leave the issue un-addressed with finals coming; she didn't want her husband to be to busy worrying about her and not concentrating on school. So with a resolve she didn't know she had, she decided to take her chance and talk to him right away. Her eyes followed his hands as he flipped pages in his text books with a furrowed brow. Normally she tried not to interrupt him when he was studying because he showed the same courtesy to her, but she felt this needed to be said now.

"Um, Takashi, can I bother you for a moment?"

He lifted his head out of his book, and nodded, placing a bookmark where he last was and closing it, focusing all of his attention on her. He knew Haruhi would not bother him unless it was important, and his instinct told him it was going to be about the party.

"Go on" he nodded to her.

"It's about your family Christmas party." She started, looking down at the table, not wanting him to see the flush of shame on her cheeks.

"I know you don't seem to want to go, I can tell by your eyes. I know you said we could go and I really thing we should. I have never met you family before, and I would really like to. I mean I would understand if you weren't planning on me meeting them, I am sure I am not the kind of bride they expected you to marry, but I really do think it would be for the best."

He looked at her, as she kept on speaking. He knew that she believed he was ashamed to introduce her to his family, which was as far from the truth as it could be, but his family were not always the nicest people.

"Haruhi, I am not ashamed of you, that couldn't be farther from the truth, it isn't you, you are perfect Haruhi. It is my family that I am ashamed of. They are not always the most welcoming people, and I don't want to take you into a situation that you wouldn't be comfortable in. They, at times, are a bit more traditional then they should be, I really don't want someone saying something to you which would cause you to looked down on me or my parents but I plan on keeping my word to you and if you want to go, we will go.

She smiled a flushed smile at his comments about him being proud of her, and felt a rush of endearment to her husband for thinking his family wouldn't be good enough for her. She looked up into his dark eyes and felt the twist in her stomach that she had recently decided was the feeling of love.

"Thank you Takashi, It really does mean a lot to me to meet your family, because now they are mine too. I am sure your family is better than what you say, we always think the worst of our families." Haruhi said reassuringly to him.

Takashi wished, more then knew, that her last statement was true.

Before either of them knew it, they day of the party had arrived and they were sitting in the limo sent by Takashi's parents on route to the party. Haruhi was nervous, she couldn't lie about that, she was finally meeting the whole Morinozuka family. What made her even more nervous was the level of elegance that came going to such a family function. The family parties she ever been to were casual, and involved the family sitting around telling stories and playing games, not dressing up in ball gowns and parading around in a crowd.

She looked down at the dress she was wearing; it was a midnight blue cocktail dress, with matching pumps and purse, all of which was her Christmas gift from the twins. Her husband told her she looked stunning and very sophisticated but she didn't feel that in the least. To top off her outfit for the evening was a stunning diamond necklace given to her from Takashi that very day. A blush came to her cheeks when she thought about his hands sweeping the back of her neck as he helped her put it on. She cursed herself for blushing so much around him, she knew she had more important things to worry about. She felt Takashi take her hand and she looked over at him.

His dark eyes were looking into hers and he was giving her a look that said _'we don't have to do this_' Haruhi smiled at him, sitting there in his black suit and matching blue tie. His calm face was a contrast to the look of concern he wore that morning, before he gave her the necklace he asked once again if she wanted to back out of the party. She gently declined the offer of escape by saying that if would be rude if they didn't show up after everyone was expecting them.

She gazed back into the dark eyes that were looking down at her, and she sighed contentedly. '_He is always doing his best to protect me'_ she thought. _'Marrying me, not rushing me into doing anything I am not ready to, helping with school, taking care of me at home, he always is thinking of me. I wish there was a way I could thank him more._' About that moment as she searched his eyes she realized how lucky she was to have married him.

"Thank you Takashi" she said stretching up to him and kissing him softly on the lips.

That wasn't the response he was expecting and she could tell by the way he was looking at her. Their physical relationship had slowly started to progress since their first kiss after the storm, and he kept his word that he made to her on their wedding night, that they could go as slow as she wanted to. Sometimes her random kisses left her husband with a subtly surprised look on his face, his eyebrows slightly raised, in a reaction that always made her smile. She enjoyed the idea that she had become so familiar with him she could read his face, to her it was a sign of their closeness.

"Thank you for marrying me." she whispered to him as she watched his face soften a little. She knew it really wasn't what he was expecting her to thank him for, but a slight smile broke on his face.

The only thing he could think of doing at the moment was kiss the back of her hand he was holding in his. He then kissed her softly on the cheek, before he rested his hand under her chin, turned her head towards him to softly return the kiss she had given him. Haruhi felt her heart race, and the want to deepen their kiss, but at the same moment they pulled up in front of Takashi's family home, so the kiss was cut short.

While it was true she had been to the Morinozuka family home many times before, her breath was still taken away. She was amazed at the elaborate work for a family party, outside, every tree was decorated in white lights. With a lite path leading the arriving company up to the huge doors that were standing open with butlers standing in front of either door, welcoming in guests.

"We are lucky, my parents are hosting." He told her as he climbed out of the limo to stand next to her. "If this becomes too overwhelming we can disappear into the house and not be considered rude."

"You are going in with a rather negative attitude" she smiled nervously, hoping the party wouldn't be as bad as he felt it would be. "I am sure it will be better then we expect."

They both took a deep breath, each others hand, and their first step forward into an evening neither one could anticipate.

They stepped into the ballroom and Haruhi was overwhelmed with the sheer number of people there. This wasn't a family party, this was a family stravaganzza. People in colorful dresses and black suits stood everywhere, talking and laughing. She felt like she was back at Kyoya's graduation party all over again, with people walking around and making business deals while ignoring the real reason for the party. A feeling of dread rose in the pit of her stomach at this realization. She wanted to flee, and she was positive she looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, but she was frozen.

She felt Takashi squeeze her hand, and she suddenly didn't feel so alone or scared. She looked over at him, and his reassuring smile, and the dread in her stomach settled. Just as he had done at Kyoya's graduation party, he was calming her nerves with just being there to support her. He let go of her hand, and slid his arms around the small of her back resting his palm on her opposite hip. He led her away from the door and into the sea of people.

Haruhi was grateful for Takashi's guidance; soon they were on the other side of the ball room, heading toward Takashi's parents, who were welcoming their guests. When the pair reached them they were greeted warmly, which made Haruhi feel much better. The smile that Mrs. Morinozuka wore was as calming as her son's but it was the next part of the conversation which made her feel less confident.

"Haruhi! You convinced Takashi to come to the party, good for you" his mother said jokingly to her new daughter as she gave her a light hug.

"Well mother, you never turn down the request of a beautiful lady correct? The beautiful lady in my life wanted to meet the rest of the family, so I couldn't say no"

His mother seemed shocked to hear this news, but kept her face schooled, proving that every member of Mori's family had the ability to give away as little as him. Nodding slightly she then looked at Haruhi, with a new gaze she had never given her before, a look of respect. Inwardly Takashi's mother was very pleased with how her son was acting around his new wife, she had never seen him look at anyone the way he was looking at her, and not just anyone could inspire her son to speak sentences like that.

"You are made out of tougher stuff then I first thought. I know I hinted that you should come but I didn't think you would actually do it. You made the right decision in coming to a party earlier in your marriage; Mitsukuni's mother waited a whole year before she came to one of the families parties which was a mistake on her part. She was paying for it over the next few years before the family came to accept her. Just one bit of advice, Haruhi, try to give straight answers when asked a question, the members of this family never like beating around the bush."

As if Haruhi's face gave away the panic she was starting to feel in her chest, Mrs. Morinozuka added one last thing. "Oh, and try not to look too scared, they will notice it, but no matter how scared you are, I want you to know that I am still glad you came. I am looking forward to your next visit, you are my first daughter, so I think you and I shall have a lot more fun in the New Year, I finally have someone to take shopping"

With that she turned to Takashi and said straight out. "Your aunt and uncle have been asking about you and Haruhi at the last party, so they will most likely seek you out tonight. You keep an eye on her, and don't let her alone. I am counting on you Takashi."

He nodded curtly, like a warrior on a mission. He wouldn't have dreamt of telling his mother that he would rather leave her alone in a room full of wolfs than with his family.

With that she said good luck one last time and went back to her husband's arm to great more guests.

In no time Haruhi was very thankful for her mother-in-law's warning, because as soon she and Takashi were elbow deep in family, they got many odd side glances and Haruhi could almost hear them whispering about them. Everyone seemed very keen to get a good look at her, but oddly enough none of them actually spoke to her. They would come and address Takashi and congratulate him on his marriage and then discuss about the Dojo with him. While Haruhi tried her hardest to keep her face schooled with a polite smile, she didn't want to let her husband down and show how scared she really was. When someone finally asked her a question it was always a yes or no, and she never elaborated unless asked to. She felt like an accessory to Takashi, like she was subhuman, she didn't know if they were treating her that way because she was a woman, or because she was a commoner. Yet she soon realized why her husband was so reluctant to bring her.

The pair must have spoken to over a hundred people within the next hour or so and Haruhi was having the hardest time remembering names and faces. She was none the less thankful for Takashi's arm that was still wrapped around her waist acting as a life line in a amazingly cold room for a family party. She heard plenty of gossip about family members and she couldn't help wondering what they were saying about her and Takashi at the last family party.

The story the pair had been telling to his family was that they married for love, not something that was readily accepted in a society were marriages were used as business transactions. Yet Haruhi could see why Mrs. Morinozuka said it was good she came to party early in their marriage, at least this way they could set the rumors already started about them at bay. Haruhi sighed deeply and quietly after the last couple they had been talking to left, she was getting exhausted. They have been there for almost two hours, and within the time period they did nothing but stand and talk with other couples. It seemed to be the system that couples would travel around the ball room in a pattern and when they found a couple that was not busy interacting with another pair they swept in. She had seen Mitsukuni walking around with his brother, Yasuchika but they hadn't been lucky enough to run into each other.

Haruhi noted the women's job in the conversation was to smile politely, look at her husband and nod in agreement, or give the other woman in the set appraising glances when they thought she wasn't looking. When the couple departed the woman would share in information they had gather to their partner, from what designer they were wearing to how expensive the jewelry was, while looking out for another pair to talk with. Haruhi now understood why Takashi had given her the diamond necklace she was wearing now this morning, so she would fit in with the shallow members of his family.

After the last pair departed, Takashi slid his arm off Haruhi waist and looked down at her quickly, and started to speak in a hushed tone.

"Haruhi, this is very important, my great aunt and uncle are coming this way to speak to us. Try very hard to keep a calm face, you have done very well all evening, but that has all been practice for this encounter. I can not touch you for the time we are with them for they will find it wildly inappropriate. I just want you to know you have been amazing all evening and I am extremely proud of you. I promise after this we can leave, and I will treat you to something sweet."

Haruhi breathed deeply, and nodded. This was her time to show her mettle, and she never stepped down from a challenge. It seemed like Takashi's aunt and uncle were the people who would make or break her time in this family and she would not let her husband down, he had already done so much for her, the least she could do was impress his aunt and uncle. She set her polite smile as she saw the older couple approaching.

The man was short and bald, and slightly round. He wore glasses, and a black, impeccable business suit. The woman with him was the same height wearing a beautiful and expensive blue green silk dyed kimono. Her long gray hair was swept up into an elegant hair style. Both had a look of superiority and knowledge on their faces, which made them look distinguished in the crowd.

Haruhi and Takashi both bowed when the couple stood in front of them and Takashi waited until he was spoken to before greeting them with a simple yet respect "Hello, Aunt and uncle. How are you both this evening?."

"Takashi" said the old man with a level of coolness that could freeze water "We have been very disappointed in the fact that this is the first party we have seen you at since before your wedding. We were expecting you at the first one a two months ago."

"I am very sorry" he said bowing. "Both my wife, Haruhi, and I have been busy with our studies and we're both regretful at missing any parties up until this point."

"How long have you been married now?" asked the elder women with a tone that could match, or even surpass the man's in coldness. She kept her eyes locked on the man infront of her, never drifting her eyes to his wife.

"Six months, aunt."

The women quickly and sharply looked at Haruhi. Openly apprising and judging her with her sharp eyes. So far her expression was one of dislike. "Are you with child yet?" she asked Haruhi directly.

As shocked as Haruhi was that a complete stranger would ask her that type of question, she didn't let it show and answered back with a kind "Not yet Ma'am".

The elegant elder women narrowed her eyes, till the point where there was just a sliver of white left. "And why 'not yet'?"

"I have not finished my schooling yet ma'am"

Her eyes widen at that response, and Haruhi felt her stomach drop, she could tell she had given the wrong answer. The older women looked at Takashi and asked "She is attending school?" The shock in her voice couldn't have been mistaken.

"Yes Aunt. Haruhi is now in her final year at Ouran High School and then after words she will be continuing her education at a prestigious law school."

Her eyes narrowed at the words law school, but before she could ask anymore questions, Takashi's uncle wanted to join in the fun.

"You attend Ouran then? What Class are you in?" He shot at her.

"Class 12 A"

He nodded, she knew that he was judging her on her class raking, which was how things worked at Ouran. Class A students had the most money and the best breeding.

"What was your former last night?" He asked just as quickly

"Fujikoa" she answered with a polite smile.

"I do not recognize that name." he said stating to himself.

"Haruhi was a special scholarship student, uncle. She has been at the top of her class since she entered Ouran."

Haruhi saw the aunts eyes look sicken by the words "special scholarship student" she knew it meant poor. Anger is trying to rise in Haruhi, she would never normally let anyone talk about her like this, but she kept reminding herself, _'This if for Takashi, if you want to be apart of this family, you will not embarras Takashi'_. Suddenly she wished she never would have made them come to a party like this where they weren't allowed to be themselves. Haruhi knew that they were just leaving the eye of the storm and things had been calm up to this point.

"Takashi, I do not understand you're purpose for marriage then. There is no advancement for you're family. You know the family's business always comes first." She admonished at him.

"I love Haruhi." He said simply.

There the whole interview thus far Haruhi had had amazing control over her face and movements. But nothing tempted her to break her will more than to look at Takashi after that statement came out of his mouth, but she held steady. While it was true they were telling everyone they married for love, she had never heard him say it so bluntly, so honestly.

"Haruhi" he continued "is an amazing student. She will easily be accepted into the most prestigious law school in all of Japan, if not the world. She will become a great credit to our family if her genius is allowed to work for the family name."

"You know how your aunt and I feel about the educating of women." said his uncle in a flat voice. "It is not a women's place to leave the side of her husband. You know how the family responds to those women who feel the need to leave their place in life. You should have addressed your family about the matter of your wife attending a university first before you told her she could go. I hope you haven't allowed her to start applying yet."

It was that moment where Haruhi felt her entire life falling away. These people treated her as if she wasn't there, and then they were going to take away her dreams because they didn't fit into the ideals. 'You must not let them know they are hurting you' Haruhi kept chanting to herself, not realizing she was chanting the same thing when Mr. Souh pulled her scholarship.

"I did discuss it with Haninozuka Mitsukuni, he and his brother have both agreed that Haruhi will be a valuable asset to have working in the dojo They are both very close with Haruhi and trust her deeply. Lately, as you know the Ohtori family has been trying to convince us to train their personal army. Mitsukuni disagrees with idea because of the legal situations. The brothers both pushed for the idea of having a close personal friend and now family member to get an excellent legal education, for situations similar to that one in the future. They requested to have Haruhi sent to the best of law schools, so she can assist the dojo he will be taking over in a few years. They both feel that she will be a positive and much needed addition to keeping the dojo and the family name in the glory that it carries now."

Haruhi was amazed at the change of attitude coming from Takashi aunt and uncle at the mention of Huni-senpai and the dojo. She knew that the dojo was one of Takashi and Huni's family gems, but she didn't know how much power it actually carried with the family. She almost let a smug smile slide on to her face when she saw his aunt and uncle exchange quick glances. She never imagined the type of power Mitsukuni had.

"Well, if the successors of the dojo feel that this, young women, will be a _needed_ addition because of a legal education then I am no one to disagree with them." Said Takashi's uncle with a half smile on his face.

His aunt, on the other hand, let her schooled face slip just a little as her eyes shown disgust at Haruhi. All Haruhi could do was smiled back politely, knowing that once again her husband had come to her rescue and saved her. She had won.

"Well my nephew," said Takashi's aunt, ignoring Haruhi in her address, she wanted to get away from the couple as quick as possible. "It was pleasant to see you attending family gatherings again. Your uncle and I hope to see you and your…wife… attend more often. Have a pleasant evening."

She shot Haruhi one last look as she and Takashi bowed, and then they strolled away looking for a new couple to belittle. She felt the comforting arm of Takashi's slip back around her waist, as her started to lead her towards his parents who were looking at them with proud faces.

"You were amazing" he whispered down at her.

"As were you." Was all she got to say back before they were standing with his parents.

Her mother-in-law placed a hand on Haruhi's shoulder and looked down into her eyes.

"You did it amazingly, much better then I ever did when I was young. You really are well suited to be with my son. You worked so well together." She said with a beaming smile. "But I understand if you want to leave now, the first encounter always takes a lot of you. You two have a wonderful rest of the evening, we already called a limo for you and it is waiting out side. Good evening"

And with that she placed a kiss on both Takashi and Haruhi's cheek and walked away to with husband, who was smiling back at the both of them.

The pair walked silently out to the limo, once seated inside the pair finally relaxed.

Haruhi looked up at her husband and with a chuckle said, "I now understand why you were so reluctant to have us come to this."

"It was a good move that you suggested that we come, it was careless of me to think about putting this meeting off. If you wouldn't have been so persistent about going, we might never have gotten them to agree with your college plans. " He said softly, then added on. "Of course even if we never got my family permission, you still would have gone to school, but we would just broken off from the family."

When he saw her face of panic at the idea he said. "Haruhi, it is worth losing my whole family, to have you, and keep you happy.

Haruhi snuggled up against her husband, "It was a good move that you were so prepared, and there was no need to take such drastic measures. Thank you so much for taking care of me."

"I told you Haruhi, I would always protect you, even if it was against my family."

Takashi paused and looked into Haruhi's eyes. He reached out and set a hand upon her cheek, and gently kissed her lips, a replay of what happened before they left the limo at the start of the party. The first kiss of the evening had been lingering in the back of Haruhi's mind, but both were still treading with caution about how far they should carry on.

Tonight however, Haruhi parted her lips and deepened their kiss. Takashi could feel his heart starting to beat faster. He wanted nothing more then to keep kissing her forever, but this thought scared him enough and he broke away.

"What is wrong Takashi?" Haruhi asked, she could tell something else was on his mind.

He looked out the window as the streets rolled by taking them farther and farther away from that dreaded party and closer and closer to their home. "Haruhi, I am just worried, sometimes I do not know if I can control myself when I am with you."

Haruhi was surprised, but pleased that it was nothing more serious.

"Takashi, have you ever thought that maybe I want the same thing as you?"

She could tell by the look on his face that he had not, and that caused her to start to giggle. She settled herself into her husband side, and closed her eyes.

"Haruhi?"

"Yes?"

"Haruhi…I love you"

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at her husband who was looking down at her with a soft expression. While it was true that they had now been married for six months neither had ever said 'I love you' mainly because they both knew that they married for friendship, respect, but love wasn't one of the reasons.

"I meant it when I said it to my aunt and uncle, Haruhi, I love you."

She smiled up at him, a real true smile, not one of the fake polite smiles that she had been wearing at the party. This was one of those smiles that reached to her eyes, and caused her husband to reaffirm the idea that he really did marry the most beautiful woman ever.

"I am so luck, I must be the luckiest woman in the world." she said taking Takashi's hand. "I married for friendship and respect, two very important things, but most the important thing I have too, love."

She kissed her husband hand. "I love you too Takashi. I love you very, very much." she said and kissed him in the lips with all her love.

She settled back against the seat of the limo, smiling to herself, and glancing at her husband shyly. Yes they had been married now for six months, half a year, or 182.7 days but they had finally taken their first step into that type of marriage Haruhi always wanted. She was married to man she respected, who was a dear friend, who gave her the world, and most of all, who loved her, really truly loved her, with all of his heart, and whom she loved back with all of hers. All she could think to herself as her husband slide his arm around her and pulled her closer to him was '_I __**really**__ am the luckiest woman ever_'.


End file.
